Google no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in the Chrome browser, marking a notable change to a prior decision to phase out third-party cookies by 2025. Google announced its cookie updates in a blog post shared today, where the company said that it instead plans to focus on user choice.
Rather than eliminating third-party cookies entirely, Google will introduce "a new experience in Chrome" that is designed to allow people to "make an informed choice" applicable across their web browsing.
Back in 2020, Google claimed that it would phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome by 2022, a timeline that was pushed back multiple times due to complaints from advertisers and regulatory issues. Google has been working on a Privacy Sandbox to find ways to improve privacy while still delivering info to advertisers, but third-party cookies will now be sticking around so as not to impact publishers and advertisers.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had opposed Google's plan to stop relying on third-party cookies because a shift to Privacy Sandbox could limit competition in digital advertising, and now the CMA says that it is reviewing Google's new plan for a user-choice prompt.
Google does not plan to stop working on its Privacy Sandbox APIs, and the company says they will improve over time so that developers will have a privacy preserving alternative to cookies. Additional privacy controls, such as IP Protection, will be added to Chrome's Incognito mode.
As of now, the new customer choices that Google is planning for are being discussed with regulators, with more information to come at a later date.
