After much hand-wringing and outright objections from the broader industry, Google is forging ahead with its Ad Topics API approach to web tracking and ads, bringing Chrome closer to advertisers. The change is disguised as a quietly rolling out privacy update for Chrome, almost as if Google is pre-empting a backlash. You may have seen the update pop-up on desktop and mobile already. If so, it might be a good time to consider a new web browser.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ad Topics and the ironically named Privacy Sandbox, the TDLR is that Google wants to move away from standard cookies to a more refined “interest-based” approach to tracking and serving ads. Essentially, the API builds up a profile of topics you’re interested in, personalizing the ads Google’s partners serve up without needing a personal Advertising ID. Firefox, Safari, and others have dented Google’s web advertising business by blocking third-party cookies. Ad Topics is essentially Google’s way to create a new ad revenue stream to replace the increasingly less viable existing model.