Google Retains Third-Party Cookies in Chrome

The cookie crumbled. Or did it?

The digital advertising world has been in a state of flux, with the third-party cookie at the epicenter of the privacy versus personalization showdown.

Once the golden goose of targeted advertising, third-party cookies faced a looming expiration date as privacy concerns grew. But in a plot twist as unexpected as a cliffhanger ending, Google has thrown a wrench into the works, delaying and now entirely abandoning its plans to phase them out.

In this blog post, you will learn what this new update means for marketers and users and what the fate of a privacy-focused internet looks like.

Let’s dive in!

Cookies 101—How Does Internet Tracking Work?

Cookies are tiny pieces of data that websites store on your browser. These text files act like a digital memory, remembering users’ preferences and activity on a website.

There are two main types of cookies: first-party and third-party cookies. The former enables websites to gather consumer data and memorize user settings and is only available to the website that generated them. It can recognize your website visit, allow you to log in with a user ID and password, and recommend purchasing similar items per your preferences.

Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are created by domains different from the primary website visited by a user. These cookies are placed on a user’s browser by a third-party company, like an advertiser, and can track them across different websites. This allows websites to analyze users’ buying preferences, retarget them with ads, and send them to websites that offer products they might be interested in.

The Privacy Dilemma—Mounting User Concerns Around Google Third-Party Cookies

Although third-party cookies enabled targeted marketing, their ability to leverage user data without explicit user consent led to public distrust.

Even the regulatory response to protecting online privacy has been significant. The European Union, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), imposed strict controls on the collection and use of personal data. Businesses are now required to ensure that they obtain clear user consent and define how they protect users’ privacy.

Google, the undisputed world champion of search engines, also took strict action against the use of third-party cookies and announced their deprecation for Chrome users. The deadline has been repeatedly postponed since 2021, with the most recent extension to the first quarter of 2025 to give businesses more time to adapt to a privacy-centric landscape.

While some thought that the extended timeline for cookie deprecation was a relief, others expressed concerns about its potential impact on privacy and competition.

To strike a balance between user choice and industry innovation, Google revised its approach and took a U-turn turning off third-party cookies.

After the July 2024 update, some foresee a trend toward user opt-outs rather than forced changes, while others hope for a balanced approach that supports both innovation and effective monetization.

Google’s Plan A—The Tech Giant First Proposed to Phase-Out Third-Party Cookies

The end of third-party cookies in Chrome had been on the horizon since 2020 when Google announced that it would eliminate these cookies in late 2023, which was then pushed further to 2024.

The tech giant started restricting third-party cookies for 1%^[i] of users in early 2024 and the complete cookie phase-out was expected by the first quarter of 2025.

After Apple and Mozilla, Google would have been a major browser to phase out cookies. Apple removed third-party cookies from its browser, Safari, and now requires applications to obtain user permission before tracking activity.

In 2019^[ii], Mozilla’s Firefox turned its Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) privacy feature on by default to protect users from advertising trackers. It also implemented more privacy protection features to ETP and strengthened the Firefox Lookwise security feature.

Google’s Plan B—In July 2024, Google Scraps its Initial Proposal to Remove Third-Party Cookies for Chrome Users

In a surprising turn of events, Google on July 22nd, 2024, notified scrapping its long-awaited plans to eliminate third-party cookies.

Google stated that users would have a “new path for privacy”, “make an informed choice” that applies across their web browsing, and choose to opt in or opt out of that choice at any time.

Here’s a glimpse of how advertisers and publishers have responded to this:

The following factors led Google’s Privacy Sandbox to introduce this “new experience in Chrome”:

1. Advertisers argued that the elimination of cookies in the most popular browser, Chrome, would severely limit their ability to collect the necessary data for personalizing ads. They also feared that they would become overly dependent on Google’s own user databases, potentially giving Google even more control over the digital advertising landscape.

2. There were also some privacy concerns surrounding Google’s proposed alternatives to third-party cookies. For instance, the Privacy Sandbox initiative and the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), faced significant scrutiny from privacy advocates and regulatory bodies about their potential for new forms of tracking.

Consequently, FLoC was eventually replaced by the Topics API. Another component of the Privacy Sandbox, the First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups Experiment (FLEDGE), was introduced to facilitate interest-based advertising without relying on third-party cookies. However, it was concerning how these technologies would be implemented and whether they would genuinely protect user privacy.

3. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) closely scrutinized Google’s plan. The CMA expressed worries that removing third-party cookies could hinder competition in digital advertising. Their concern was that such a move could consolidate Google’s market power, making it harder for smaller ad tech companies to compete and innovate.

This scrutiny from the CMA underscores the broader regulatory challenges and competitive implications tied to Google’s initial plan to phase out third-party cookies.

Google Retains Third-Party Cookies But User Choice Will Still Take Center Stage

Rather than a complete ban, Google’s new strategy prioritizes user control, allowing individuals to make informed decisions about cookie usage on their devices. This user-centric model could take the form of:

1. Privacy Dashboards: Comprehensive interfaces where users can manage their cookie preferences, see which sites are using cookies, and adjust settings accordingly.

2. Enhanced Cookie Controls: More granular options for users to accept or reject cookies, including the ability to adjust these settings at any time.

Alternative Targeting Approaches to Third-Party Cookies

1. First-Party Data

Since first-party data is authentic and accurate, publishers should collect it to generate higher Cost Per Mile (CPMs) and session Revenue Per Mile (RPMs) with hyper-targeted ads. Moreover, value-packed gated content, newsletters, forums, and articles provide high-quality, informative content and exclusive insights to your users and keep them informed and engaged.

2. Contextual Advertising

Contextual targeting serves relevant ads based on the content of a webpage, relying on keyword analysis rather than cookies. It utilizes data shared by the publisher, such as timezone and device type, to enhance ad relevance. This approach is particularly effective when publishers have highly themed content, which attracts a loyal audience genuinely interested in specific niches.

3. Publisher Provided IDs (PPIDs)

Google’s Publisher Provided Identifiers (PPIDs) are identifiers assigned to users by publishers, typically linked to logged-in users. To utilize PPIDs, publishers can encourage users to log in.

PPIDs enable advertisers to deliver personalized ad campaigns in a privacy-first manner, allowing publishers to create custom audience segments and deliver campaigns through traditional reservations or Programmatic Guaranteed deals. This approach enhances ad relevance and helps improve ad revenue by serving targeted ads to users.

4. Federated Learning

Federated learning, also known as collaborative learning, is an innovative approach for training decentralized machine learning models, such as deep neural networks, across multiple edge devices.

It involves devices collaboratively training a shared model while keeping the training data locally, without exchanging it with a central server.

This contrasts with the traditional centralized approach, where data from various sources is collected and stored on a single server for model training. Federated learning, on the other hand, offers a privacy-preserving alternative to centralized machine learning.

The Role AI Can Play in Helping Businesses Prepare For Privacy-Centric Marketing

1. Personalized Content and Experiences

AI can take over the role of third-party cookies by analyzing user data to create more relevant and engaging experiences. By leveraging AI algorithms, marketers can tailor vast amounts of data in real-time to individual preferences and behaviors. This will help ensure a personalized, privacy-centric user experience, and compliance with data protection regulations.

2. Enhanced Data Analysis

AI excels in handling and analyzing enormous datasets and provides rapid and accurate data analysis. AI-driven insights can help marketers understand customer behavior, predict trends, and make data-driven decisions, ultimately leading to more effective and efficient advertising efforts.

3. Transparency and Trustworthiness

Privacy concerns have been a major issue with third-party cookies. AI can address these concerns and offer a transparent and trustworthy approach to data usage. With AI, advertisers can implement clear and ethical data practices and ensure that user data is handled responsibly and securely. By demonstrating a commitment to privacy and ethical data use, companies can build stronger relationships with their audience and foster long-term loyalty.

Wrapping Up

From the impending death of third-party cookies to Google abandoning cookie deprecation, everything caused a stir in the industry and made headlines.

However, whether it is a world with cookie tracking or without cookies, the one thing that remains constant is providing privacy-centric user experiences.

The significant transformations were all driven by an increased focus on privacy, urging advertisers to redefine their strategies as per customer expectations. Therefore, a privacy-first web is crucial to build deeper, trusting relationships with customers.

References

^[i] Initial Third-Party Cookie Restrictions By Google
^[ii] Firefox Privacy Changes Timeline