Google Makes a U-Turn, Won’t Deprecate Third-Party Cookies
In a significant U-turn, Google has announced that it won’t deprecate third-party cookies. Instead, it plans to explore options where Chrome users have more control over their web browsing privacy. Learn more about the implications of this announcement for the advertising industry.
- Google has announced that instead of deprecating third-party cookies, it plans to give Chrome users more control over their web browsing privacy.
- Experts believe this announcement may make little difference to the advertising industry.
For almost four years, Google said it would remove its support for third-party cookies. The company even announced the Privacy Sandbox as part of its third-party cookie deprecation plan. However, after multiple postponements, the search engine giant finally seems to have given up on this idea, as it announced it is planning a new approach instead of phasing out third-party cookies.
A Major Third-Party Cookie Policy Reversal
Google announced the Privacy Sandbox initiative in 2019 and said it would stop supporting third-party cookies by 2022. The company also said the tool’s APIs would improve following greater industry adoption. This initiative received pushback from regulators, the advertising industry, web developers, and other stakeholders.
Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox, said the transition may also need significant work by participants and may impact advertisers, publishers, and others involved in online advertising. The company is planning to introduce a new experience in Chrome, allowing users to make an informed choice about their privacy settings.
“In light of this, we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice. 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. We’re discussing this new path with regulators and will engage with the industry as we roll this out,” Chavez said in Privacy Sandbox’s blog post.
The company also plans to offer additional privacy controls by introducing IP Protection into Chrome’s Incognito mode.
See more: Google Postpones Plan to Phase Out Third-Party Cookies, Again
Impact on the Advertising Industry
Google’s initial announcement of removing support for third-party cookies rang alarm bells in the advertising industry. After the initial shock and recovery, most industry players started preparing for a cookieless future, concentrating on zero-party and first-party data strategies. With Google’s new announcement, publishers and advertisers preparing for a cookieless future may have to reassess their strategies.
Experts Weigh In
While Google may have planned to halt its efforts to deprecate third-party cookies, many experts believe it may not change many things for advertisers and publishers.
1. Grant Parker, president of Flashtalking by Mediaocean
“A lot of the good work that was done to prepare for the cookieless future will continue to apply to omnichannel advertising. With the emergence of social media, CTV, and other cookieless channels, advertisers were already adapting to working in a multi-ID, multi-signal environment. Google’s change of plans won’t change this basic reality. And with the continuing development of privacy regulations, it will still be imperative to be mindful of consumer choice and consent.”
Summary: Much work that was done to prepare for the cookieless future will continue to apply to omnichannel advertising.
2. Drew Stein, CEO and founder of Audigent
“Google may have announced they are no longer deprecating cookies, but the subtext is equivalent to instead deprecating chocolate chips and cookie dough to the same effect. Ultimately, Privacy Sandbox is still moving forward, and, bottom line, that means massive changes to audience data, media buying, and measurement in Chrome.
The announcement amounts to not much more than a sleight of hand. One thing is for sure – these cat and mouse games need to end, and Google needs to meaningfully engage in fixing Privacy Sandbox instead of toying with cookie deprecation once again to distract from the main challenges created by its proposed sea changes in Chrome.”
Summary: The announcement about deprecating cookies is essentially a sleight of hand, as Privacy Sandbox is still being pushed forward.
3. Aaron Grote, VP of Digital Products at Stirista
“Google’s announcement is being largely misread in the initial frenzy of hot takes. When the dust settles, people will realize that Google did not announce that 3rd party cookies will be sticking around. Instead, Google announced that they are changing the way 3rd party cookies will be made unavailable. The “new experience in Chrome” that puts cookie choices in front of users in more direct ways will have the same net effect as a top-down deprecation and could even achieve that effect in a shorter timeframe.
People will wake up a few days from now and realize that the fundamental dynamics have not changed and that advertisers and their agencies should pursue a diversified and cookieless suite of targeting strategies to grow their brands.”
Summary: When the dust settles, people will realize that the fundamental dynamics have not changed.
4. Geoffroy Martin, CEO at Ogury
“It remains to be seen how Google will implement this change, but if other ecosystems are any indication, this might lead to a vast majority opting out of tracking.
Advertising identifiers have already been phased out from Safari and Firefox and are also shrinking over time on Chrome. The reality is our industry is at a decisive turning point in consumer data protection, and this shift began long before Google decided to deploy the Privacy Sandbox.
Advertisers should not view Google’s announcement as an opportunity to postpone their move to solutions that do not exclusively rely on third-party identifiers. It’s pointless for our industry to cling to a model that is doomed to disappear. Rather, it’s time for advertisers to invest in alternative solutions that allow them to scale independently of future industry decisions while prioritizing consumer privacy.”
Summary: Advertisers should invest in alternative solutions that allow them to scale independently of future industry decisions while prioritizing consumer privacy.
5. Karen Nelson-Field, CEO and founder of Amplified Intelligence
“This decision doesn’t change the current path of media measurement evolution. Focus has long been shifting towards attention as a key metric for understanding what was seen, not simply observed – and it will keep moving that way.
Live assessment of real human attention will still be essential to fixing the long tail of poor impressions from those who don’t opt out. Equally, attention will provide a vital means of refined audience segmentation if users switch off cookies. Regardless of Google’s actions, the industry will continue its forward attention-led progress.”
Summary: Irrespective of Google’s actions, the industry will continue its forward attention-led progress.
In essence, most experts believe that Google’s latest announcement hasn’t changed much for the industry, and the publishers and advertisers should and will continue moving toward a cookieless future, irrespective of the search engine giant’s actions. All this said, how the industry as a whole will react to Google’s announcement remains to be seen.
MORE ON GOOGLE’S THIRD-PARTY DEPRECATION MOVE
- Google Will Block Third-Party Cookies for All Chrome Users by the Second Half of 2024
- Austrian Advocacy Group Hits Google With Privacy Complaint Over Chrome Browser
- Privacy Sandbox: Envisioning Advertising After Google Kills off Third-Party Cookies
- Google’s New Cookie Restrictions: A Nail in a Coffin We Should Have Already Buried
