No, that proves the problem could not be solved politically, because regulators lacked the political power needed to regulate google

If they would try to regulate google, that would be a political measure. How would they "regulate google" in a technical way?

But GDPR was their way of regulating Google. It is not perfect but it was a huge step in the right direction.

I thought GDPR regulated the cookies that websites are allowed to request to store on users devices. Does it also cover tracking built into browsers by Google, Microsoft, etc.?