Britain's competition watchdog has secured assurances from Google that the tech giant will make changes to its use of user-tracking cookies in its browser, following concerns about their impact on the digital advertising market.
The Competition and Markets Authority has been investigating Google's plan to cut support for some cookies in Chrome for the purpose of protecting user privacy.
The CMA was concerned that if the changes proceeded as planned 'this may cause advertising spending to become even more concentrated on Google, harming consumers who ultimately pay for the cost of advertising'.
California-based Google has now made new pledges to address some remaining competition concerns
'It may also undermine the ability of online publishers such as newspapers to generate revenue and continue to produce valuable content in the future, reducing choice for consumers,' the CMA explained.
In June, Google proposed making changes to its 'privacy sandbox', including allowing the CMA an oversight role, and it has now said these commitments will apply globally.
The authority revealed on Friday that the Alphabet-owned company has extended its commitments to last six years.
google
Report this page