Google’s FLoC sees a delay to 2022-23
TL; DR
- The introduction of Google’s FLoC protocol has been postponed to 2022-2023.
- Google intends to have FLoC replace cookies in Chrome. However, the response to FLoC has not been good so far.
- The company says it is delaying rollout “to move at a responsible pace”.
In early 2020, Google made a big announcement: It planned to kill cookies in Chrome. The result of this change would mean that Google would no longer track the browsing habits of individual users. Great news, right?
Obviously, Google needs to keep tracking people so that it can use that data to sell ads. The solution to this puzzle is the FLoC protocol from Google, which stands for “Federated Learning of Cohorts”. Instead of tracking individual users, FLoC tracks groups of like-minded users, creating similar records but with more privacy for individuals.
Connected: What is Google FLoC? Google’s new ad tracking plans explained.
Unfortunately, the tech (and advertising) industry has not received FLoC well. Numerous large tech companies, including WordPress, GitHub, DuckDuckGo, and Brave, criticized FLoC and Google’s ambitious plans to roll it out quickly. Antitrust authorities in the US and Europe also expressed concern.
In response, Google announced today that it will slow down its scrolling process a bit and delay the FLoC transition in the Chrome browser (via 9to5Google). Google said it made that decision to “act at a responsible pace” and allow sufficient time to find “the right solutions” to various browser cookie issues.
Now, Google FLoC won’t land in the Chrome browser until at least 2022. Even then, it will be introduced very slowly with an expected end date being in late 2023. Google hopes this will allow advertisers and tech companies to take advantage of FLoC before it becomes the new normal.
