Do the Google people sleep? On the weekends, maybe?
The company has just announced it will not move forward with its planned deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome. Instead, it will maintain the status quo established a year ago, offering users existing privacy controls via Chrome’s settings—no standalone cookie prompt, no firm cutoff date.
The announcement comes via a blog post today from Anthony Chavez, Google’s VP of Privacy Sandbox, and signals another pivot in the company’s multi-year effort to rewire web privacy and advertising. Here’s the key passage:
“Taking all of these factors into consideration, we’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies. Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.”
Why This Matters:
Google’s “retreat,” if you will, from third-party cookie deprecation follows last week’s ruling that it holds monopoly power over two adtech marketplaces: the publisher ad server and ad exchanges. In this context, the long-heralded death of the cookie now reads less like altruistic consumer protection and more like regulatory appeasement that never quite landed, unfortunately.
The move also, to some degree, complicates life for companies that have spent years preparing for a post-cookie world. Privacy Sandbox APIs—pitched as replacements for cookie-based targeting and measurement—may now serve a different purpose. According to Google, that role will be reevaluated in the coming months.
“We’ll engage with the industry to gather feedback and share an updated roadmap for these technologies,” the blog states, “including our future areas of investment, in the coming months.”
Experts React:
Eric Seufert, adtech analyst, was quick to resurface a January 2024 blog post contextualizing the real scope of cookie deprecation.
“Third-party cookie deprecation applies to a very specific segment of the digital advertising ecosystem,” he wrote. He reminded everyone that Safari and Firefox have long blocked third-party cookies, and on iOS, WebKit enforces similar limitations. “So while the scope of applicability of cookies is vast, it isn’t universal.”
Our Take:
This latest update feels less like a policy shift and more like an admission: Google’s post-cookie vision was never fully embraced—by regulators or by the market. Everyone seemed to dislike it for different reasons, and every attempt to advance or test it was met with complaints. Cookie deprecation felt like an olive branch to privacy advocates, but without regulatory reciprocation or industry consensus, it basically wilted.
Here’s a good take from Ari Paparo:
Now, alternative ID solutions face some questions because of this. Were they built for a future that may never fully materialize? Maybe. But as Seufert points out, these tools still hold value, even in a world where Chrome keeps cookies (especially as other platforms continue to restrict third-party tracking). In the end, we’ve landed back where we started, which, all things considered, isn’t the worst outcome.
One thing is for sure, however: Jeff Green will probably be writing a LinkedIn post about this.
