• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

Movement for an Open Web (MOW), an advocacy group that supports web publishers, filed a complaint with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) challenging the move by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to eliminate third-party cookies. The group believes proposals favor Google.

Third-party cookies (3PCs) have been the focus of privacy advocates for years because companies using them to target ads and collect data have allowed organizations to web users and collect online browsing activities, often without gaining their consent.

Some that still use cookie-based browser tracking say the data is not personally identifiable, but others suggest it can be combined with other data sets to identify and profile people.

In the letter MOW states it "has been working closely with the CMA in its investigation regarding Google’s desire to remove support for third-party cookies in its proprietary Privacy Sandbox technologies."

Google in April announced it will no longer completely remove support for third-party cookies.

MOW argued in the filing that the W3C's position opposing third-party cookies is anticompetitive and supports Google to the disadvantage of web publishers. It says W3C has become dominated by the interests of the tech platforms that have used their scale and resources to dominate decision making at the body.  

The organization maintains that smaller companies are at a disadvantage without third-party cookie data because they don't have access to large sources of first-party data like Apple, Google, and Meta.

The complaint focuses on the W3C’s statement “Third Party Cookies Must Be Removed,” which states third-party cookies are harmful to the web and must be removed from the web and platforms.

MOW’s complaint argues this position is anticompetitive for a range of reasons, starting with Google's removal of third-party cookies, the subject of a multi-year investigation by the CMA as a breach of competition law.  

MOW also argues the W3C has become dominated by the interests of the tech platforms that have used their scale and resources to dominate decision-making at the body.

By supporting this proposal, the letter states that Google is in violation of paragraph 33 of its Privacy Sandbox commitments to the CMA by attempting to circumvent its agreement not to remove third-party cookies.

“The CMA found that [third-party cookies] are a vital mechanism that supports about 70% of publisher revenue," per the statement. "Google’s proposal to remove 3PCs would impact publishers and promote Google’s position with advertisers. The W3C, announcing that ‘3PCs must be removed,’ sides with Google and against publishers. This is disappointing for what should be a neutral standards body.”