Google extends Chrome’s third-party cookie deprecation to 2025 in response to challenges, granting websites an additional transition period.
Once more, Google has pushed back on its initiative to eliminate third-party cookies from Chrome, offering extra time for industry participation and regulatory assessment.
Websites must shift from cookie tracking to Google’s Privacy Sandbox APIs.
Google has already postponed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome web browser again. The latest delay follows continued difficulties addressing feedback from industry stakeholders and regulatory bodies.
The news was disclosed in a joint quarterly report from Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, set for release on April 26.
Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phase-Out Delayed to 2025
Google has announced that it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as initially planned. Instead, the company aims to begin the phase-out of third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” pending agreement with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The statement from Google indicates:
“We acknowledge the ongoing challenges in reconciling differing feedback from industry, regulators, and developers, and we remain committed to engaging closely with the entire ecosystem. It is also crucial that the CMA has enough time to evaluate all evidence, including the outcomes from industry tests, which the CMA has requested from market participants by the end of June.”
Ongoing Collaboration with Regulators
Google reaffirmed its commitment to “working closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout this process to conclude discussions this year. This is the third delay in Google’s timeline for deprecating third-party cookies; the initial target was a phaseout in Q3 2023, which was later postponed to late 2024.
These delays underscore the difficulties of transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing user privacy and advertisers’ needs.
Transition Period and Consequences
In January, Chrome began limiting third-party cookie access for 1% of its global user base, with plans to gradually increase this percentage until reaching 100% by Q3 2024.
However, with the latest delay, websites and services have additional time to adapt to reduced third-party cookie access through Google’s “deprecation trials” program, designed to ease the transition.
These trials allow temporary extensions for third-party cookie use until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising applications that can demonstrate a direct user impact or potential functional disruptions. The program has strict eligibility requirements: advertising-related services are ineligible, and websites associated with known ad-related domains are automatically disqualified.
Google emphasizes that the deprecation trials aim to address specific functional issues, not to compensate for broader data collection limitations.
Publisher and Advertiser Implications
The recurring delays underscore the challenges faced by digital publishers and advertisers who depend on third-party cookies for user tracking.
Industry organizations worry that limitations on cross-site tracking could drive websites to adopt less transparent and potentially privacy-invasive methods.
However, privacy advocates argue that moving away from third-party cookies is essential to curbing covert user profiling across different websites.
With this latest delay, stakeholders have additional time to get ready for the eventual elimination of third-party cookies and to explore Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as alternative solutions.
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