* Prompts to install Chrome and make it your default browser. (Safari and Edge do the same; this is a tactic that’s been common since the browser wars between Netscape and IE.)
* The built-in password manager and synchronization using a Google account.
* Ads on Google Search for Chrome.
* Built-in DRM and the companies like Spotify that require it.
* Some Google services like Google Meet and Google Earth were implemented for Chrome first.
* Advertisers can place ads using AdWords on Google Search and this is first-party, rather than third-party advertising, which matters when third-party cookies are blocked.
* Google Ads provides Google with insight into the popularity of other websites. (As does running the most popular search engine, I will add.)
* Chrome’s long-delayed blocking of third-party cookies is finally happening, but first-party cookies are unaffected.
* Moving Google services from other domains to google.com subdomains means that they can share cookies without being affected by third-party cookie restrictions.
That’s quite a long list of competitive advantages! And there are more! It’s good to be a big tech company that most people use. They aren’t dark patterns, though? None of this seems surprising?
I still think Chrome blocking third-party cookies will be a good thing. I guess that’s the paradox, what’s better for privacy isn’t good for competition.