Google's Latest Role: The Cookie Monster

Google is going after all the cookies, and the rest of the data-hungry world is worried that only crumbs will be left.

The search king is among a core group of Internet companies that see an opening as the Web evolves beyond cookie-based data tracking. While the death of cookies -- those sticky computer codes that compile data on consumers as they browse online -- has been greatly exaggerated, many in the ad industry say their utility is in question. Google is developing proprietary solutions such as universal IDs, which can connect a user across devices, ad tech industry sources said. Essentially, a universal ID is a technological alternative to cookies that would collect data on users and track them as they travel from tablet to desktop to smartphone -- a trick cookies can’t match. And it’s not just Google. Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo or any Internet company with a silo of consumer data could build its own user ID, increasing the complexity of online advertising.