Google Gives Third-Party Cookies Another Year

Google is delaying the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome by another year, with plans to start phasing them out in 2024.

This is the second extension of Chrome’s support for third-party cookies, which Google originally planned to discontinue this year.

Plans changed again last year when Google extended the deadline to 2023. Now the extension is getting an extension.

Google needs more time to test its Privacy Sandbox initiative — a less intrusive solution for delivering targeted advertising.

Anthony Chavez, Vice President of Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, states in a blog post:

“The most consistent feedback we’ve received is the need for more time to evaluate and test the new Privacy Sandbox technologies before deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome…

This deliberate approach to transitioning from third-party cookies ensures that the web can continue to thrive, without relying on cross-site tracking identifiers or covert techniques like fingerprinting.”

Google started testing the Privacy Sandbox over the past several months. Developers, publishers, and marketers agree it needs a longer testing window.

Now, Google plans to gradually transition from third-party cookies to the Privacy Sandbox rather than abruptly replacing them with something new.

A trial version of the Privacy Sandbox API is available to developers. In August, the trial will expand to millions of people globally.

Google will continue to roll out the test to more people throughout the year and into 2023.

Chavez continues:

“By Q3 2023, we expect the Privacy Sandbox APIs to be launched and generally available in Chrome. As developers adopt these APIs, we now intend to begin phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024. As always, you can find up-to-date timelines and milestones on the Privacy Sandbox website.”

For marketers and advertisers, this means more time before adjusting your advertising strategies to target Chrome users.

It’s unknown how the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome will impact advertisers or how effective the Privacy Sandbox is at targeting customers.

We’ll likely learn more as the test expands throughout 2022 and 2023.

Source: Google

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