Marketers rejoice as Google axes plans to ditch cookies

Google has performed one of the biggest U-turns in recent history by scrapping plans to ditch third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, over 4½ years – and four delays – after it was first announced.

The move, which is likely to be welcomed by many marketers, has been revealed in a blog post by Google Privacy Sandbox vice-president Anthony Chavez.

He stated that “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”.

While the industry has been working hard to find alternatives with many companies waking up to the power of first-party data, only a fortnight ago a study from digital experience platform Optimizely showed that a whopping 97% of executives said they still felt unprepared for this fundamental shift.

However, the tech giant is not abandoning the “Privacy Sandbox” , its initiative launched in early 2020 to replace cookies and make it easier to target ads without tracking individual users. It plans to continue making it available to third-party websites.

Google insists the U-turn has been prompted by discussions with “a wide variety of stakeholders, including regulators like the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority and Information Commissioner’s Office, publishers, web developers and standards groups, civil society, and participants in the advertising industry”.

Chevez said: “As this moves forward, it remains important for developers to have privacy-preserving alternatives. We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility.

“We developed the Privacy Sandbox with the goal of finding innovative solutions that meaningfully improve online privacy while preserving an ad-supported Internet that supports a vibrant ecosystem of publishers, connects businesses with customers, and offers all of us free access to a wide range of content.”

Google says it will continue working with the CMA and other regulatory bodies to hone its Privacy Sandbox offerings and its new privacy prompt. Chavez added: “We’re discussing this new path with regulators and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”

In a statement, the CMA said: “We intervened and put in place commitments in 2022 because of concerns that Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals could distort competition by causing advertising spend to become even more concentrated on Google’s ecosystem at the expense of its competitors.

“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.”

ICO deputy commissioner Stephen Bonner added: “We are disappointed that Google has changed its plans and no longer intends to deprecate third party cookies from the Chrome Browser.

“From the start of Google’s Sandbox project in 2019, it has been our view that blocking third party cookies would be a positive step for consumers. The new plan set out by Google is a significant change and we will reflect on this new course of action when more detail is available.

“Our ambition to support the creation of a more privacy friendly internet continues. Despite Google’s decision, we continue to encourage the digital advertising industry to move to more private alternatives to third party cookies – and not to resort to more opaque forms of tracking.

“We will monitor how the industry responds and consider regulatory action where systemic non-compliance is identified for all companies including Google.”