{"id":34975,"date":"2022-02-24T15:00:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=34975"},"modified":"2022-02-23T10:05:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T09:05:34","slug":"floc-and-wordpress-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/floc-and-wordpress-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"FLoC and WordPress &#8211; Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You might not be aware of it when you first start using WordPress, but the moment your WordPress website goes online, you become a part of a large community. You could be using WordPress for <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/affiliate-marketing\/\">affiliate marketing<\/a>, your very own <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/woocommerce-tutorial\/\">WooCommerce store<\/a>, or to <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-start-a-fashion-blog-using-wordpress\/\">start a fashion blog<\/a> \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter. When you have a website, you become responsible for keeping it safe and secure for your visitors, and that often means looking for signals from the core CMS developer.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The question of Google\u2019s FLoC \u2013 Federated Learning of Cohorts \u2013 and its security implications have been discussed within the WordPress community and beyond. In case you\u2019ve heard about this Google-developed substitute for third-party cookies, but you\u2019re not sure what to make of it, don\u2019t worry. We\u2019ll try to get you up to date on the topic as soon as possible.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In this article, you\u2019ll learn about:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#the-problem-with-cookies\">The Problem with Cookies<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#googles-response-and-floc\">Google\u2019s Response and FLoC<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#the-reaction-to-floc\">The Reaction to FLoC<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#floc-and-wordpress\">FLoC and WordPress<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#what-happens-next\">What Happens Next?<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;new-top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"the-problem-with-cookies\"><\/a>The Problem with Cookies<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Problem-with-Cookies.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"The Problem with Cookies\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Problem-with-Cookies.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Problem-with-Cookies-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Problem-with-Cookies-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Problem-with-Cookies-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The story about FLoC, WordPress, and how it affects everyone\u2019s online activity starts with the deliciously named cookie \u2013 <strong>a small file nestled in the browser containing some useful information<\/strong>. Cookies help YouTube recommend videos to you, and keep the shopping cart in an online store you visit consistent while you browse around. Useful little things, those cookies.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Some of them indeed are. But others don\u2019t help you as much as they help people who want to sell stuff to you.<strong> Those useful cookies, the ones that let websites have all those nice features like cart permanence and the ability to stay logged in, are first-party cookies.<\/strong> The websites you visit create them and place them on your computer.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The bad cookies, the ones that show you ads about the things you\u2019ve searched for online just hours ago, are third-party cookies. <strong>They aren\u2019t created by the website you\u2019re visiting, but by advertisers who use them to gather a lot of information about you and your online activity.<\/strong> As you browse the web, these cookies interact with trackers to collect data points, which are then used to serve ads to you.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]While you might have some control over whether you want this data to be collected or not,<strong> the routine invasion of privacy that comes with third-party cookies and the possibility for security issues were big enough to put third-party cookies on the watchlist of many different organizations.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Governments are looking into them, with the EU leading the charge. Privacy advocates and researchers have been even more vocal. <strong>Companies such as Apple and foundations such as Mozilla have enabled third-party cookie blocking in their web browser, too.<\/strong> In 2019, Google decided to join in on the effort.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"googles-response-and-floc\"><\/a>Google\u2019s Response and FLoC<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Googles-Response-and-FLoC.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Google\u2019s Response and FLoC\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Googles-Response-and-FLoC.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Googles-Response-and-FLoC-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Googles-Response-and-FLoC-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Googles-Response-and-FLoC-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>When it comes to tracking, displaying ads, and browsers, Google has a unique position because it, or its parent company, has its fingers in all of the above.<\/strong> Google dominates the browser market with Chrome. It dominates the digital advertising market with Google Ads. Thanks to its search engine it always has places to display ads, and it can gather data points on its users like very few other companies \u2013 or maybe even none other.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Still, Google decided that it, too, will have to start taking privacy seriously. It announced its Privacy Sandbox initiative to create solutions for a more private web while simultaneously probably making sure advertisers are happy and targeting is still a thing. <strong>That\u2019s what Federated Learning of Cohorts was supposed to do, anyway \u2013 give advertisers a way to target you without identifying you.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>With FLoC, advertisers would see you as part of an interest-based cohort.<\/strong> Your browser would distill the information it gathers about your activity \u2013 no need for cookies, see \u2013 and then produce a tag that would tell advertisers which cohort it belongs to. They would then use that information to display ads relevant to the cohort.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"the-reaction-to-floc\"><\/a>The Reaction to FLoC<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Reaction-to-FLoC.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"The Reaction to FLoC\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Reaction-to-FLoC.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Reaction-to-FLoC-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Reaction-to-FLoC-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-Reaction-to-FLoC-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]FLoC wasn\u2019t well-received by the organizations dealing with privacy, information rights, and cyberspace. <strong>Many of those who were critical of third-party cookies didn\u2019t see FLoC as the type of moving forward that was needed.<\/strong> Among the organizations that published criticism of FLoC were Mozilla, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as browser developers such as Brave and DuckDuckGo.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Google\u2019s attempt at third-party cookie replacement was met with scorn for a good reason. <strong>FLoC failed to provide a safe alternative to third-party cookies, itself being either susceptible or conducive to all sorts of privacy and security concerns.<\/strong> One of the greatest concerns noticed by security researchers was the fact that FLoC made some security threats worse. <strong>Fingerprinting, or using disparate data points to create a stable identifier for a browser, might be aided by FLoC.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]That\u2019s just the beginning, though. <strong>Other concerns raised against FLoC include insufficient countermeasures, gathering and leaking too much user data, too narrow cohort targeting.<\/strong> Google has gone so far as to eventually recognize the fingerprinting danger and start looking into a topic-centered way of tracking users and delivering ads and has eventually decided to postpone Chrome\u2019s third-party cookie abolishment until 2023.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"floc-and-wordpress\"><\/a>FLoC and WordPress<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FLoC-WordPress.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"FLoC and WordPress\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FLoC-WordPress.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FLoC-WordPress-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FLoC-WordPress-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FLoC-WordPress-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>FLoC affects WordPress users as much as any other CMS or website builder user.<\/strong> Still, because WordPress is the leader of the CMS market with a bustling community \u2013 it\u2019s an institution of open-source software and the web \u2013 any reaction that came from its camp was sure to be noted.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]That\u2019s exactly what happened when there was a call for WordPress to start treating FLoC as a security threat. <strong>It was later announced that, for the time being, WordPress will not be doing that.<\/strong> With the future of FLoC still being uncertain, it\u2019s still to be seen whether it eventually will. <strong>The very fact that such a conversation happened only served to show Google that it\u2019s not on the best path with FLoC.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"what-happens-next\"><\/a>What Happens Next?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"553\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/What-Happens-Nex.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"What Happens Nex\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/What-Happens-Nex.jpg 969w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/What-Happens-Nex-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/What-Happens-Nex-768x438.jpg 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/What-Happens-Nex-620x354.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>As someone who uses WordPress, you don\u2019t have to pay too much attention to FLoC for now.<\/strong> It\u2019s yet to be seen what changes Google will make with it, and what replacement for third-party ads it will come up with.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]One thing\u2019s for sure, though \u2013 online tracking is going to change.<strong> The real question is whether that affects your business model or not, and how easily you and your website can adapt to a tracking-free future.<\/strong> If that\u2019s what we\u2019ll see, of course \u2013 Google doesn\u2019t have to take anyone\u2019s opinions into account when making any decisions about FLoC. It\u2019s at the top of too many markets with competitors not even close.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wondering how Google&#8217;s FLoC might affect your WordPress website? This article will tell you everything you need to know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":34988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[218,81,13],"class_list":["post-34975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-cookies","tag-google","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}