Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
2 May 2025 | 10:51 CAT
2-minute read

Image: Harvest Digital

On April 17, 2025, a US antitrust ruling found Google liable for illegally monopolising digital advertising, particularly in the open-web display publisher ad server market. The judge, Leonie Brinkema, ruled that Google had “wilfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts” to achieve this dominance, citing the harm to publishing customers, competition, and consumers.

The ruling is part of a broader push to regulate tech giants, and Google has stated its intention to appeal. The US Department of Justice is seeking remedies, including potential divestiture of parts of Google’s ad tech business.

Now, Google has quietly delayed one of its most controversial strategies: the phase-out of third-party cookies through its Privacy Sandbox.

The move, subtle in Google’s corporate speak, has rippled across the digital advertising world. Third-party cookies—tiny data packets placed on a user’s device by websites other than the one being visited—have long been used to track browsing habits and target advertising. While Google had promised a more privacy-friendly replacement, critics argued that its proposed Privacy Sandbox would, in fact, deepen Google’s dominance.

South African tech analyst and founder of World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck, unpacked the implications in an interview this week. Explaining the purpose of third-party cookies, he said, “It’s an invasion of your privacy because it tends to know more than you would like it to know in most cases.”

Goldstuck noted that although Google’s stated aim was to improve privacy, the underlying motivation remained profit-driven. “In reality, it was more about Google being able to target better and, in fact, find out even more about the user.”

The delay in Google’s plans came swiftly after a damning US court decision. Regulators across the world have increasingly scrutinised Big Tech’s grip on user data and online advertising. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, for instance, recently ruled that Google’s Privacy Sandbox granted it excessive control. South Africa’s Competition Commission has also launched investigations into the power online platforms wield over the local digital ad space.

Goldstuck believes Google’s retreat is anything but coincidental. “Google is trying to pretend that they are on the side of the advocates of privacy, and they never have been. And they’re not going to be.”

While Google has justified the delay by citing “divergent perspectives” within the advertising industry, critics say the company is simply stalling the inevitable. With rising global momentum toward first-party data collection—where businesses interact directly with customers rather than through intermediaries like Google—the old model of targeted advertising may be nearing its end.

“The cookie will crumble eventually,” said Goldstuck. But for now, it seems the world’s most dominant search engine is buying time in an increasingly regulated digital future.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.