Google's AdID, an anonymous identifier for advertising, could replace the aging cookie

You know the drill: accept the cookie, delete the cookie, empty the cookie bin, and so on. Mostly, it's an exercise used when attempting to get your mum's PC to run a wee bit faster, but if you think about it, the cookie is one of the most archaic pieces of the world wide web that's still in use today. Naturally, Google is swooping in in a bid to change the status quo, according to a new report from USA Today.

Essentially, the search giant is building an "anonymous identifier for advertising, or AdID, that would replace third-party cookies as the way advertisers track people's internet browsing activity for marketing purposes." Perhaps astoundingly, it sounds as if the project could benefit both consumers (by shielding true identities) and advertisers at the same time. Of course, pundits are concerned about the global leader in online advertising controlling the technology that tracks movements on the web, but to us, it sounds as if end users will get far more power over who sees what when compared to today's cookies.