Google says it plans to keep third-party cookies alive in Chrome after spending years preparing for their demise, per a company blog post published on Monday.
In early 2020, Google said it hoped to make third-party cookies, a solution that allows publishers and other players to track individual web browsers, obsolete by introducing a new privacy-first solution it dubbed Privacy Sandbox. The feature uses a set of APIs, or application programming interfaces, to offer more user privacy protections while still allowing publishers and ad buyers to do the targeting and measurement tasks that cookies enabled.
Google repeatedly pushed back the date for when third-party cookies would vanish from Chrome. Partners who tested the feature, such as ad-tech firms Index Exchange and Criteo, as well as industry group the IAB Tech Lab, expressed concerns that Privacy Sandbox was not yet ready for prime time, arguing it posed a risk to publishers and programmatic players. In a recent report, Criteo forecasted that publishers' Chrome ad revenue would drop by around 60% on average if third-party cookies were turned off. (Disclosure: This reporter previously worked at the ad-tech firm The Trade Desk.)
Google seems to have heard their concerns. It now plans to introduce a new experience in Chrome that "lets people make an informed choice" around cookies across web browsing, Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox, wrote in the company's blog post. What that experience will actually look like isn't clear yet.
If the feature prompts users to opt into ad targeting, similar to the approach Apple took with app targeting in 2021, it still could prove to be a real headache for ad sellers and buyers.
Chavez said the company is "discussing this new path with regulators," after collecting feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders, including the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), publishers, web developers, and ad industry players.
A CMA spokesperson said "we will need to carefully consider Google's new approach to Privacy Sandbox, working closely with the ICO in this regard, and welcome views on Google's revised approach – including possible implications for consumers and market outcomes."
