Google on Thursday began to test what the web will look like without third-party tracking cookies for 1% of Chrome browser users, around 30 million people, its latest step towards getting rid of the technology altogether.
By the end of this year, Google intends to end support for cookies in Chrome and replace them with alternative technologies that still allow advertising to work on the web, but in a way that's more privacy conscious toward consumers.
Advertisers, publishers, and other players in the digital media ecosystem were first put on notice that Google was planning to eradicate cookies from Chrome in 2020.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the advertising ecosystem, with industry players concerned the new so-called Privacy Sandbox technologies won't prove to be adequate replacements and that the move could further cement Google's dominance of the online advertising market. Google has already had to push back it's original deadline for eradicating cookies twice.
Business Insider has been closely covering the developments. Here's what you need to know about how Google's cookie saga has played out over the last 12 months:
One of Google's big plans to replace third-party cookies just hit a huge setback that it might not recover from (Jan 13, 2023)
A rep from the web standards body the W3C rejected one of Google's key cookie-alternative technology proposals, saying it wouldn't adequately protect user privacy.
Google said last May that it was on track for a fourth-quarter, 2024 cookie expiry date. But industry groups said they were concerned the plan would have a huge negative impact on publishers.
Google might have to delay its plan to kill tracking cookies until 2025, ad industry experts believe (November 9, 2023)
An update from the regulator overseeing Google's process to replace cookies gave rise to a theory that the tech giant might have to push back its timeline until 2025 before cookies can go away.
Google is replacing the exec who oversees its $220 billion ad business amid big privacy and AI changes (November 29, 2023)
Vidhya Srinivasan now leads Google's ad organization, replacing Jerry Dischler.
The 16 hottest adtech companies of 2023 (December 7, 2023)
Companies selected for Business Insider's annual list of top adtech firms like Criteo, PubMatic, and Lockr are working on solutions to solve for the impending death of third-party cookies.
