Google announced on Monday that it is backtracking on its previous goal of removing third-party tracking cookies from its Chrome browser.
The tech giant initially told the public in January 2020 that it would commit to a full phaseout of the technology, disabling third-party cookies for all Chrome users by default by 2022.
Google delayed making major changes several more times over the course of four years, citing advertiser backlash and regulatory concerns.
In 2023, the company launched Privacy Sandbox in an effort to develop privacy-centric technology for web and Android apps.
Touted as an alternative to cookies, the initiative did not supersede the use of cookies as initially intended.
In January 2024, Google started shutting down third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users, installing new Tracking Protection controls.
And in March, the tech giant launched open-source marketing mix model (MMM) tool Meridian designed to help marketers adapt to the cookie-less future.
Google's efforts seemed to have been in vain, shocking the marketing world with the recent announcement of abandoning its cookie-less initiative.
An Unpopular Choice
Industry peers Mozilla (Firefox) and Apple (Safari) opposed many of the proposals made by Google through Privacy Sandbox due to their compromising nature.
This includes Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which used algorithms to assign each person a generated ID based on the content that they accessed. Users would then be grouped according to the content they consumed.
Eventually, the cookie phaseout was delayed to 2025 — that is, until yesterday's announcement.
"Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time," Privacy Sandbox VP Anthony Chavez wrote in a news release.
Chavez emphasized the company's goal of providing "privacy-preserving alternatives," as well as plans to offer increased privacy controls and IP Protection to Incognito Mode on Chrome.
As of now, there are no concrete details on what future plans entail.
Google is currently undergoing discussions with the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), an independent department that regulates company practices in favor of consumers.
#Google has confirmed a new approach to third-party cookies. Instead of removing them from #Chrome, it will introduce a user-choice prompt.
— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) July 22, 2024
We’re considering the impact of this announcement and welcome views until 12 August.
Read more: https://t.co/ZMI1qsOOlepic.twitter.com/XQUvWIln4j
According to the CMA, Google plans on displaying a prompt that allows users to accept or decline third-party cookies.
The solution creates a compromise to the privacy measures already implemented by browsers like Firefox and Safari, which have third-party cookies turned off by default.
The company's decision seems to be final, with Google choosing to prioritize advertiser needs over user privacy.
Marketers have been preparing during the past couple of years on how to deal with a cookie-less future.
Paul Turner, GM of Digital at Deep Sync, even spoke to DesignRush to give tips on how to leverage first-party data when third-party cookies become obsolete.
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
