Microsoft Edge is deprecating third-party cookies in favor of the new Ad Selection APIs

Microsoft announces the brand-new Ad Selection API on its Edge browser, a new capability that will allow advertisers and publishers to display relevant ads to users without relying on third-party cookies.

The Ad Selection API is a browser platform feature that enables advertisers and publishers to show relevant ads to users—all without relying on third-party cookies or other cross-site tracking identifiers.

Microsoft

In the official blog post, Microsoft stresses that third-party cookies are coming to an end, and almost all browsers are seeking to deprecate them sooner or later. The Redmond-based tech giant says the Ad Selection APIs are a natural alternative and upgrade from them, and the company hopes to make them the industry’s standard by the second half of 2024.

The API has robust privacy protections built into it, including K-anonymity constraints, the use of differential privacy, and protecting user data throughout the ad auction process. The API enables relevant ads to be shown to users while keeping them in full control of their data. A key building block is the use of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) which enable more computationally heavy tasks to be processed off-device yet not allowing anyone to directly observe the data being processed.

Microsoft

As the deprecation of the third-party cookies will start in the coming months, Microsoft says that Edge will block them entirely by default.

In the initial phase, 1% of non-managed device users will be targeted, and they will no longer have third-party cookies. Then, the company will gradually deprecate them in a manner that prepares and encourages the ecosystem to proactively prepare for the eventual removal.

Meanwhile, Microsoft will get Edge ready with the Ad Selection API to test the environment and make sure it is viable to have such a capability in place.

Users that want to experience third-party cookies deprecation for themselves, can do so, starting today, by:

• Going edge://flags/#test-third-party-cookie-phaseout in a new tab.
• Enabling the Test Third Party Cookie Phaseout flag.
• Restarting Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Edge is quietly becoming one of the best browsers around, surpassing Opera, Safari, and Mozilla, but still being far away from Google Chrome, even though it’s on par with it, or even better. Microsoft constantly updates the browser with useful features, but for now, it’s still not enough to overtake Chrome.