ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) —  One of the most popular browsers said it would change how it handles your cookies. But Jamey Tucker found out that’s not happening anymore.

If you’ve ever been online and clicked “Accept” on one of those cookie notices, you know how often websites track what you do. It’s constant. The websites you visit, the links you click, even what you search for.

Google was planning a big change to that to make it easier on us, but just announced that things will stay the same. 

Google says it will not roll out a standalone Chrome prompt to manage third-party cookies. Instead, users will keep seeing those individual website popups and have to manually manage what cookies a site wants to put on your device.

The decision comes as Google faces major legal challenges. A U.S. judge recently ruled the company holds illegal monopolies in online advertising — a case that could even force Google to break up parts of its ad business. 

Right now, ads bring in $237.85 billion for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which is about 77% of its total revenue. And ads are much more valuable when companies can target you based on your online activity. 

If you want to stop third-party tracking, you can by accepting only the cookies necessary to use a website. But that’s an extra step, and let’s face it, most Chrome users just click “Accept” and move on. 

Apple did not warn people to delete Chrome, despite what some online headlines are claiming. So, which browser should you use if you’re serious about privacy? I’ll break them down next time. 

Google says it’s working on giving users control over data while not hurting advertising, but hasn’t said when that will happen.