Vestager: Google's cookie removal proposal falls in scope of antitrust investigation

European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager wrote Google's "proposals to deprecate third-party cookies" are part of its ongoing antitrust investigation on the technology company, AdExchanger reports. Vestager's statement is in response to concerns raised by Romanian Member of Parliament Carmen Avram and now brings into question whether Google's Federated Learning of Cohorts standard will be part of the commission's inquiry. In other news, Digiday reports on the publishers that are testing and objecting to the FLoC method. Editor's note: IAPP Staff Writer Joe Duball reported for The Privacy Advisor on Google's decision not to pursue a cross-site tracking alternative as it abandons third-party cookies.