If you lived west of the Mississippi at the dawn of the 20th century, there must have been a moment when it became clear that the Wild West of old was no more. Perhaps it was the arrival of the railroad, or the last stagecoach robbery or the introduction of a federal income tax.

For the web, that moment might just be Google’s decision on Tuesday to end third-party tracking of people’s browsing habits. It’s a move that will better protect user data, but it also provides an opportunity for the Alphabet unit to extend its dominance of online advertising...

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