Google backpedals on plan to eliminate third-party cookies in Chrome

After years of indecision on the issue of third-party cookies, Google has finally made a decision: on Monday, the company revealed that it would no longer pursue its plan to cut off support for third-party cookies in Chrome. Instead, Google played up other options that would hand more control of privacy and tracking to Chrome users.

As one alternative solution, Google touted its Privacy Sandbox, a set of tools in Chrome designed to help you manage third-party cookies that track you and deliver targeted ads. Google said that the performance of this tool's APIs would improve over time following greater industry adoption. That transition is likely to require a lot of effort by publishers, advertisers, and other participants, so Google has something else up its sleeve.

"In light of this, we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice," Google said in a Monday blog post. "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."

The latest move follows years of vacillation by Google on how to deal with third-party cookies. The company initially aimed to start blocking such cookies in 2022. After that time frame came and went, Google postponed the process until the second half of 2024. Moving the goal post still further, the company announced that it would end support for third-party cookies starting in the second half of the final quarter of 2024. Then in April, Google said it would postpone the phaseout until early 2025, at the earliest.

Third-party cookies have proven to be a contentious issue in the browsing world.

Users see them as a privacy violation, as advertisers use such cookies to track their activities across the internet to serve targeted ads. Regulators worry about flaws in the privacy tools available to users. Meanwhile, websites and advertisers view these cookies as a revenue source, as they provide insight into users' habits and interests. With all these parties weighing in on Google's plans, it's no wonder the company was kicking the can down the road.

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To help guide its efforts, Google has received feedback from regulators such as the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), publishers, web developers and standards groups, civil society, and advertisers. All of this feedback likely led the company to curtail its plan to deprecate third-party cookies.

"While not totally unexpected, this move ends several years of uncertainty and begs several important questions," according to Rio Longacre, global lead for advertising & marketing transformation for consulting firm Slalom.

In an email to ZDNET, Longacre said: "If you ask me, the decision means Google is finally admitting the alternatives to third-party cookies are worse for targeting and no better for consumer privacy. That said, it was ultimately combined pressure from three groups -- regulators, advertisers, and publishers – that influenced Google to make this decision, in my opinion."

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Google's mention of a new option in Chrome for managing third-party cookies also seems hazy. The browser already offers users a way to stop third-party cookies. The process is as simple as going to Settings, selecting "Privacy and security," clicking "Third-party cookies," and then turning on the switch to block them. What more could Google add to the browser without making the process too confusing?

"I imagine this change simply means you will get an annoying pop-up like this on every new website you visit -- kind of what happens currently in the EU," Longacre said. "So yes, expect more annoying EU-style pop-ups on every site you visit. This will be bad for UX [user experience], but will keep the regulators happy on both sides of the Atlantic."

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Ultimately, the entire process has been largely driven by regulators, according to Longacre, as people are upset over how their personal information is handled online. Users feel that cookies and other digital advertising tools that collect their data are intrusive, and they don't trust the tech world, he added.

"Privacy is now regarded as a fundamental right, and organizations are moving swiftly to safeguard consumer PII (personally identifiable information), with limited or no movement of consumer data and capturing of consent," Longacre said. "Google's announcement today will neither slow down nor reverse this process."