Google has decided to once again delay the end of third-party cookies in your Chrome browser. The Mountain View giant wanted to say goodbye to this element in 2022, but postponed the change until 2023. Now, when everything seemed to indicate that there were going to be no more changes in plans, a new date has been announced: 2024.
This latest delay, Google explains in a blog post, is because advertisers, publishers, and other ad industry players have asked for more time to test ad technologies. Privacy Sandbox before permanently disabling third-party cookie support in Chrome.
About two years to go until the end of third-party cookies in Chrome
Third-party cookies are one of the most important pillars of the current digital advertising system, but they are also an element that can be used to harm the privacy of users. Replacing them with another solution means that the industry must modify its practices to adapt to it.
Under pressure from regulators, Google proposed the Privacy Sandbox initiative, which promises to be effective in providing targeted advertising and metrics for advertisers, while “protecting” user privacy by basing it on the interests of groups of people rather than do it individually.
After reaching an agreement with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google launched the Privacy Sanbox test API, which has been tested by the advertising industry for months. As in any testing phase, feedback is used to further develop the solution before its final release.
In this sense, the Mountain View company says that “the most consistent comments they have received are the need for more time to evaluate and test Privacy Sandbox before disapproving third-party cookies in Chrome.” For this reason, Google has decided to extend the testing window.
How are things now? Throughout the year Privacy Sanbox API access will be gradually expanded to reach millions of users around the world. “As the web community tests these APIs, we will continue to listen and respond to feedback,” says Google.
Now, third-party cookies won’t just go away in Chrome. According to the company’s new schedule, as developers adopt the final version of the API They will gradually eliminate browser cookies. When will this start? In the second half of 2024.
It should be noted that most experts agree that this change will present certain improvements at the privacy level, however, they also warn that Google could be increasing its control in data analysis and, consequently, its power in the business of advertisements.
In Xataka | How the web will change with the end of third-party cookies from Chrome
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism