Four years ago, Google made a surprising announcement:Phase out“Cookies” allow third parties to track users in Google Chrome.
Google had said it would take several years to find a new compromise to avoid total disruption of the online advertising industry, but this was seen as a major win for user privacy advocates.
Well, Google just announced on Monday that it’s scrapping its cookie deletion plans.
According to Google, the search giant do not have Remove third-party cookies. Instead, Google plans to introduce a new feature in Chrome that will empower users to make informed decisions that will affect their entire web browsing experience.
Google backs down on cookie policy
Google initially stated its intention to phase out third-party cookies in 2020. Cookies are breadcrumbs of data stored on users’ devices that store login information, website preferences, and most importantly, allow third parties to track users for targeted advertising purposes.
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But while Google has made clear its intention to phase out cookies, it has made it clear that it will take several years to work out a solution with the advertising industry.Regulators in the UK and EU have shared Google’s concerns that rushing to remove cookies could be unfair to competitors.
However, earlier this year, Google’s goal of eliminating cookies shifted. In January 2024, Google announced Privacy Sandbox Only effective for a small percentage of Google Chrome users, Google’s Privacy Sandbox is essentially their answer to cookies.
With a focus on user privacy, the product replaces cookies with the Ad Topics API, which categorizes users into advertising categories that third parties use to serve ads. This seemed like a good common ground Google was looking for: businesses could still advertise to targeted consumers, and individual users wouldn’t be tracked by third parties.
But on Monday, Google announced in a post titled “A new path for a privacy sandbox on the web” that it was backing away from its plan to phase out cookies altogether. The company said it had decided to adopt an alternative solution after receiving feedback from developers, publishers, regulators and the advertising industry.
Google didn’t provide details on exactly what this “new experience in Chrome that empowers users to make informed choices across their web browsing” will entail. The announcement was written by Anthony Chavez, vice president of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, who spoke about the product’s success in achieving privacy-focused goals.
But based on Google’s announcement, it seems the tipping point here is that Google may continue to allow third-party cookies by default, and offer a User Privacy Mode powered by Privacy Sandbox as an alternative option.
Whatever Google’s “new experience” may be, cookies aren’t going away, and while the search giant may offer users more privacy-focused options, the advertiser-friendly option has clearly won out.
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