Google recently started an “origin trial” test in the popular Chrome browser. This innovative web technology is called the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). And has been developed to replace third-party cookies.
The introduction of FLoC is creating issues for the open web. Open Source Browser makers and users have been pushing back. Third-party cookies can follow and track users around the web. And there have long been complaints about the “cookies” role in targeted advertising.
Google’s solution, takes a slightly different approach which Google claims is “interest-based advertising that both improves privacy and gives publishers a tool they need for viable advertising business models.”
Controversial Tracking Continues
With a strong public response DuckDuckGo, Brave, Vivaldi, and other open-source advocates disagree. The companies claim they will disable Google’s FLoC, just like they have been disabling the third-party tracking cookies. They call FLoC a “step in the wrong direction.”