Google’s upcoming rejection of cookies attracts US Department of Justice attention – Investigation underway
Google’s plan to phase out its popular web tracking tool, cookies, has raised concerns among U.S. Department of Justice investigators. They began interviewing the advertising industry representatives to find out if the search giant’s actions would make it difficult for them to operate.
A year ago, Google announced that it is starting to reduce the use of cookies in its proprietary Chrome browser to improve user privacy. Google now plans to ban the tool entirely, which has raised concerns among the ad business.
According to four people interviewed by the US Department of Justice, the investigators’ questions were about how Chrome changes, including those related to cookies, will affect the advertising and news industry. Investigators are trying to find out if Google’s browser, which has 60% of the market, could be a competitive reduction tool that would give the search giant an edge over third-party advertisers. There are suspicions that Chrome’s new privacy sandbox could also serve as a tracking tool for users on the web, which Google will completely control. According to sources, representatives of more than a dozen companies representing various areas have already interviewed Justice Ministry investigators.
On the contrary, Google says it helps companies grow while protecting user privacy from any abuse. As a reminder, 15 US attorneys general, led by the Texas Attorney General, filed a complaint against Google on Tuesday, claiming that Chrome’s new privacy tools are anti-competitive.
