In the United States on Thursday, Google released a redesigned browser plug-in Cookie Rejection Banner in Europe, including a ” one-click rejection ” button to help users more easily avoid Internet tracking through cookies.
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Google said it had undertaken a ” complete redesign ” of its ad-tracking approach after years of pressure from European data protection regulators.
“Soon, anyone accessing European search services and YouTube while logged out or in Incognito Mode will see new cookie tracking options,” Google wrote in a blog post on Thursday. The new measures will begin with Launched in France, it will soon be rolled out to the entire continent, including non-EU member states the UK, and Switzerland.
Google said it had had multiple conversations with European regulators and had received “specific instructions” from French data watchdog CNIL. On January 6, the agency fined Google a record 150 million euros ($163 million) and Meta Platform’s Facebook 60 million euros ($65 million) for how it managed cookies, Also give them three months to provide web users with a simple mechanism to refuse cookies.
Previously, Google allowed users to accept all tracking cookies with just one click but required multiple clicks to reject different cookies. This asymmetric mechanism is illegal and tends to lead users to accept cookies, which ultimately benefits Google’s advertising business, CNIL said.
To address this, Google’s new Cookie Rejection Banner offers clear, balanced choices, including buttons such as “reject all,” “accept all,” or “more options”. If the user is not logged in, the new menu will appear on Google Search and YouTube.
Calling for a better cookie menu, the European Centre for Digital Rights (NOYB) says 90% of users will click to accept all cookies, but only 3% actually want them. Of course, while these changes Google has implemented are small, they do help change the status quo.
