Google has once more delayed its plan to section out third-party cookies within the Chrome net browser. The most recent postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling suggestions from trade stakeholders and regulators.
The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privateness Sandbox initiative, scheduled for launch on April 26.
Chrome’s Third-Celebration Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025
Google states it “is not going to full third-party cookie deprecation throughout the second half of This autumn” this yr as deliberate.
As a substitute, the tech large goals to start deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “beginning early subsequent yr,” assuming an settlement may be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Info Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO).
The assertion reads:
“We acknowledge that there are ongoing challenges associated to reconciling divergent suggestions from the trade, regulators and builders, and can proceed to interact carefully with your complete ecosystem. It’s additionally vital that the CMA has enough time to assessment all proof, together with outcomes from trade assessments, which the CMA has requested market individuals to supply by the tip of June.”
Continued Engagement With Regulators
Google reiterated its dedication to “partaking carefully with the CMA and ICO” all through the method and hopes to conclude discussions this yr.
This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout earlier than pushing it again to late 2024.
The postponements replicate the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site consumer monitoring whereas balancing privateness and advertiser pursuits.
Transition Interval & Affect
In January, Chrome started limiting third-party cookie entry for 1% of customers globally. This proportion was anticipated to step by step improve till 100% of customers had been lined by Q3 2024.
Nonetheless, the newest delay offers web sites and companies extra time emigrate away from third-party cookie dependencies by means of Google’s restricted “deprecation trials” program.
The trials supply short-term cookie entry extensions till December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use circumstances that may display direct consumer affect and useful breakage.
Whereas easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility guidelines. Promoting-related companies are ineligible, and origins matching identified ad-related domains are rejected.
Google states this system goals to deal with useful points somewhat than relieve normal information assortment inconveniences.
Writer & Advertiser Implications
The repeated delays spotlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers counting on third-party cookie monitoring.
Trade teams have raised considerations that limiting cross-site monitoring may push web sites towards extra opaque privacy-invasive practices.
Nonetheless, privateness advocates view the phaseout as essential in stopping covert consumer profiling throughout the net.
With the newest postponement, all events have extra time to arrange for the eventual lack of third-party cookies and undertake Google’s proposed Privateness Sandbox APIs as replacements.
Featured Picture: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock
