Findings from the Early Fledge Experiments

Abstract

Google Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox has been in development for 3 years. Since April 2022, it has been possible to test one of the key proposals from the initiative, FLEDGE, in the real Chrome browser. Testing is conducted through an origin trial, a type of experiment dedicated to the features planned to be implemented in Chrome.

In this whitepaper, we explain how RTB House and the company’s partners prepared for these early experiments, and the insights we have gathered. If not for the willingness of RTB House’s partners to test, publishing this whitepaper would not be possible.

For future reference, we explain the testing setup and the key outcomes. We explain the different elements of FLEDGE that were available for testing, as well as highlight those that were not. We conclude the whitepaper by delivering predictions about the future of the proposal, taking into consideration the timeline proposed by Google Chrome, the low engagement of the advertising industry, the possible actions of the regulatory authorities, and the remaining steps from the technical perspective.

Keywords: cookieless; privacy; FLEDGE; Privacy Sandbox; digital advertising; targeting, origin trial, experiments.

JEL Classification: M3, M37