Google vs Safari browser battles – What marketers need to know

Apple recently released an ad promoting privacy protections for users of its Safari browser. If you have not seen it, you should. It is cute. In the ad, security camera bird and bat hybrids spy on cell phone users, creating a creepy world in which people’s browser history is not private at all. These spying, flying cameras blow up, however, when cell phone users open and use Safari. The spots do not mention Google Chrome specifically, but Chrome is the main comparison target. Accompanying supporting media, which include descriptions of Safari privacy updates, do mention how Chrome and Chrome’s Incognito Mode “doesn’t cut it anymore.”

The ad, and the privacy protections the ad and supporting media tout, also represent the beginning of what may shape up to be a privacy war of the big player browsers – Apple Safari and Google Chrome. It may not be too dramatic to predict that this Apple ad will start a positive upward spiral in which some of the largest and data-centric companies will vie for a lead in privacy protections. To predict what this browser privacy war might look like and what it means, it is useful to understand a brief history of browser privacy.

A brief history of browser privacy

Over time, there have been two main criticisms about browsers related to privacy. First, advocates and regulators alike have pressed for browsers to allow users to easily set a Do Not Sell request once that the browser automatically passes on to each website the user visits, rather than requiring the user to opt out of selling/sharing on each website the user visits. Some web browsers have been on this privacy bandwagon from the start, using privacy as a differentiator to promote their use. These browsers, such as DuckDuckGo and FireFox, will communicate to any website the user visits a Do Not Sell request, for example. Browsers also can allow (or not allow) users to download a plug in like Privacy Badger that performs a similar service. However, these privacy-sensitive browsers are small players in the market.

The marketplace has criticized larger players, like Microsoft’s Edge, Google Chrome, and Apple’s Safari, as recently as earlier in 2024 for not making privacy easy. These browsers do not allow for easy, one-click opt outs for selling/sharing across all websites, for example. Also, Chrome and Safari do not allow the Privacy Badger download to function. To understand the scale of browsers that do not offer easy, cross-website opt out, Chrome accounts for 65% of the market, and Safari 18.6% around the world. Another source reports that, combined, Edge, Chrome and Safari account for 90% of website hits.

How the browsers handle cookies

The second main criticism of browsers is how they enable cookies generally, and third party cookies specifically, which are the electronic shipping containers that enable cross-context advertising. Again, Safari and Firefox have automatically blocked third party cookies for years. Google also jumped on the privacy train in 2020 and committed to phase out third party cookies altogether in 2022. That date stretched out to 2025, partly in response to pressure by the advertising community. However, July 2024 saw a change of direction by Google. Instead of deprecating third party cookies, Google announced its Privacy Sandbox. Still in development, Google touts its Privacy Sandbox as “…technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses.”

Despite this release, Google Chrome is losing both the privacy public relations and privacy functionality war. As a data-driven company, Google carries with it the burden of its data use legacy, which advocates and media have long criticized for lacking privacy and user control.  Google’s large step back on its third-party cookie’s deprecation promise also creates some perception damage. It also represents some significant wasted costs to companies that spent human and technology dollars to prepare for a world without third party cookies. On the other hand, Apple’s recent ad campaign creates a positive comparative stir on its Safari privacy protections.

Moreover, most analyses come to the conclusion that Safari does, indeed, surpass Google’s Chrome in privacy-sensitivity. Though both browsers support a private browsing mode, there are some differences between the two browsers on how that exactly works, with Safari coming out slightly more protective of privacy and security. Combined with the fact that Safari automatically blocks third-party cookies, Safari’s advertising campaign has at least some real-world functionality to back the promises.

What do these changes mean?

The more interesting thing about this recent Google-Apple privacy race is how it reflects an emerging fact – people care about privacy. Moreover, this development reflects Apple’s belief that people care about privacy, and that privacy can be a differentiator in both its products, brand perception, and advertising messages.

Another interesting conclusion to note about the Apple-Google browser privacy battle is that it does not take much in terms of privacy-forward practices to create a positive public stir. Though Apple’s Safari may be a slight privacy leader over the other big browser player, it still is not as privacy sensitive as other, smaller browsers. FireFox and DuckDuckGo are both smaller but more privacy protective browser options. Additionally, most analyses place Apple’s Safari privacy only slightly above that of Google’s Chrome. In other words, a company does not have to be the best in class for privacy to leverage privacy as an advantage.

Google’s response will be interesting to watch. As it continues to develop its Privacy Sandbox response, the question is whether and how Google – a Big Data company – will answer Apple’s privacy challenge. It is also assured that Apple will remain watchful of Google’s response and craft responses of its own, so Apple’s continued journey on the privacy path bears watching as well. Finally, how the privacy stances of these two browser giants impact consumers, consumer trust, and market share will create a case study of the power of privacy, consumer trust as an advantage, and the return on even small forward shifts in privacy by design (and default).