Google has pushed back its intention to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome browser until 2025, citing the need to give authorities more time.
The company announced this in a blog post on Tuesday, ahead of its Q1 2023 report.
Google stated that it is continuing to work with the ad sector and authorities on the proposal, including the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is reviewing its operations.
Cookies are small pieces of data that a website transmits to a user’s browser. They are commonly used to track surfing activity for advertising purposes.
Banning third-party cookies is supposed to give Chrome browser users more data privacy.
Google said it has been in talks with publishers, marketers, and regulators about its proposal to replace cookies, which software marketers use to track people’s online behaviour and target adverts appropriately, as part of the Privacy Sandbox program.
The corporation provided an update on the plan to phase out cookies by the fourth quarter of this year.
In a statement, the corporation stated that it is aware of ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators, and developers and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem.
The announcement marks the third time Google has pushed back on its original goal of January 2020.
Back then, the tech behemoth promised to eliminate third-party cookies “within two years” to improve consumer security while browsing the web.
In February of this year, the CMA ordered Google to pause its cookie phaseout until anticompetitive concerns were addressed.
In particular, publishers and ad tech businesses urged the CMA to look into claims that the Privacy Sandbox favours the market position of Google’s ad goods, particularly Google Ad Manager.
Google’s intention to phase out cookies is similar to actions made by Apple Inc., which shook up the digital ad market in 2021 by limiting advertisers’ access to user data in its operating system.
Meanwhile, Google began testing the Tracking Protection feature in Chrome in early January.
The option enabled by default throughout the test allows users to block and unblock third-party cookies.
