Google keeps its hands in the cookie jar: deprecation of third-party cookies cancelled

Why the reversal?

Since announcing the decision to phase out third-party cookies in 2020, Google’s position on cookies has attracted criticism from certain stakeholders in the advertising industry, which uses third-party cookies to track users across different websites, building profiles of users that can be used to deploy targeted ads.  

Alongside criticism from certain quarters of the ad industry, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also been heavily invested in Google’s decision-making around cookie deprecation, citing the risk that online spending would become more concentrated on Google via its “walled garden” of first-party data, which would thereby weaken competition and ultimately harm consumers.^[1]

As we previously reported in April 2024 Google announced that it was delaying its third-party cookie removal, saying the reason was that the CMA required “sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests.”

Ad industry response

Some representatives from the advertising and publishing industries have been sceptical of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, the name used by Google to refer to its initiative to explore privacy-forward alternatives to user tracking.  

In February 2024, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab released a 106-page report on Google Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox, stating that it did not support the functions that are currently deployed by advertisers, which are enmeshed with the current cookie-supported ad-tech infrastructure, and that it did not provide enough support for brand safety or the preservation of commercial deals which are already in place.^[2]

The chair of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Digital Media Group, Amy Lawrence, has responded to Google’s announcement, acknowledging the fact that the turn towards user-led decisions around cookie usage will lead to less data being provided to advertisers: “Although not yet clear what the new User Choice will look like, it is safe to assume that we will see significant signal loss.”^[3]

Conversely, the CEO of IAB UK, Jon Mew, responded to the news by highlighting the work the industry has already done to move away from over-reliance on third-party cookies: “The reality is that a big proportion of the open web can’t be addressed by third-party cookies already, so continuing to pursue other ways of targeting and measuring audiences is vital,” concluding that “many of our [advertiser members] have more questions than clarity,” following the announcement.^[4]

What’s next?

Google has positioned this decision as a move towards greater consumer choice, stating:

“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.”^[5]

It’s safe to say that the issue of online data privacy will remain a thorny one. In response to the news, the ICO deputy commissioner said: “From the start of Google’s Sandbox project in 2019, it has been our view that blocking third-party cookies would be a positive step for consumers.”^[6]

It’s also important to remember that advertisers have already begun the process of transitioning toward a future free from third-party cookies, including focussing on other strategies such as contextual targeting, which uses advanced algorithms to analyse the content of webpages and then provides matching advertisements on that basis; and data collaboration, which sees different organisations sharing and merging datasets to create shared databases of user groups with similar interests and online behaviours.

It remains to be seen how Google will continue to balance its relationships with watchdogs like the CMA and the ICO, both of whom have different positions on cookie deprecation, against its commercial relationships with advertisers and publishers.