Google’s third-party cookies deprecation in the Chrome browser already saw delays extending the company’s timeline to completion in 2025. Now, those plans have been canceled entirely.

Retailers, among other advertisers, had already been exploring how third-party cookies’ elimination would alter targeting capabilities based on activity in Google’s Chrome web browser. That journey has opened up new opportunities for alternatives. Examples include those offered through retail media networks that leverage first-party data on customers.

In a July 22 blog post, however, Anthony Chavez, a vice president working on Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, explained that his company is changing course.

Google’s decision to cancel third-party cookies deprecation

“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,” Chavez wrote. “We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”

Google originally started its Privacy Sandbox project to explore options for user privacy on the open web. Up until this week, that vision did not include third-party cookies, the code used on websites that can live on in web browsers across multiple site visits to track user activity and inform targeted advertisements delivered to those users. Along the way, the Privacy Sandbox team has been working with industry and government representatives to craft new solutions.

“Throughout this process, we’ve received feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders, including regulators like the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), publishers, web developers and standards groups, civil society, and participants in the advertising industry,” Chavez said. “This feedback has helped us craft solutions that aim to support a competitive and thriving marketplace that works for publishers and advertisers, and encourage the adoption of privacy-enhancing technologies.”

Timeline for third-party cookies deprecation

Ultimately, Google decided that its favored path will mean implementing these new settings within Chrome and without pushing ahead with cookies deprecation. That process began after a formal announcement in 2020, eyeing 2022 for full deprecation. In April, the deadline was moved into 2025 as Google acknowledged the CMA’s need to review proposals, as well as “ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers.”

“As this moves forward, it remains important for developers to have privacy-preserving alternatives,” Chavez stated this week. “We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility. We also intend to offer additional privacy controls, so we plan to introduce IP Protection into Chrome’s Incognito mode.”

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