Today, Google announced it will no longer phase out third-party cookies in Chrome. Instead of its previous plans to remove third-party cookies by 2025, it has proposed an ‘updated approach’ with continued investment in its Privacy Sandbox and a new option in Chrome that will let “people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing”.

With Google claiming that its new approach will “elevate user choice”, we asked our media and analytics team for their reaction to Google’s U-turn:

Neil Barnes, Head of Analytics:

While Google’s reversal of third-party cookie deprecation on Chrome was unexpected, it doesn’t negate the need for all businesses to focus on implementing cookieless measurement solutions as soon as possible.

Why? This is very much a numbers game. Given Chrome has such a significant share of browser usage (typically quoted at over 70 percent), even if a low percentage of users opt out of third-party cookies through the proposed ‘informed choice’ solution, it is still going to cause significant measurement gaps with third-party cookies. This underscores the reason why the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would be willing to consider the proposed solution.

These measurement gaps will need filling with cookieless measurement solutions for marketing data to be usable and meaningful to make data-driven decisions.

The focus on the Privacy Sandbox in Google’s blog post announcement indicates that there will be further investment here, again nodding to the fact that implementing cookieless measurement solutions remains critical.

The focus for businesses should remain on implementing in-platform cookieless measurement solutions like the Privacy Sandbox, Enhanced Conversions, Consent Mode and Conversions API to best mitigate the increasing gaps in measurement.

Longer term, the collection of first-party data, and enabling this via technologies such as a customer data platform, will be crucial in delivering sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

Ben Norville, Senior Media Director:

I dread to think how many cookieless presentations, webinars, and memes have been created since Google announced third-party cookie deprecation in 2020, leading up to this week’s change of course. However, the content of those resources remains true for third-party cookie deprecation and marketers can rest easy  that the need to find alternative solutions still remains.

Recent feedback from the UK’s antitrust enforcer, the CMA, highlighted issues with the rollout. While surprising, from an external perspective, something had to change. The shift to letting users make ‘informed choices’ when opting in/out of tracking and being able to adjust that choice at any time, will still inevitably lead to a significant reduction in third-party cookie usage, something we saw in 2021 with Apple. Although the specific form of this opt-in/out is still unclear, the move towards user choice and less reliance on Google should be welcomed.

How does this announcement change our approach to targeting and measurement? Because of the inevitable drop-off in data and gap between user privacy settings, our advice remains the same. Continue to invest in cookieless targeting and measurement solutions, understand the importance of your first-party data and have clear roadmaps outlined. Be confident that this work will pay off. This announcement only brings back another potential solution without negating the others. Hopefully, it brings some clarity to the previously unknown aspects of the situation.

Deyna Lavery, Head of Paid Search:

Given the amount of time, effort and investment that has gone towards deprecating third-party cookies, Google’s announcement is surprising. While simple in concept (as already implemented by Safari and Firefox), it was clear that balancing user privacy, advertiser performance and the concerns of regulatory bodies was a delicate act. Work on this started back in 2020 and the implementation deadline had already been delayed three times.

The crux of the announcement is that the Privacy Sandbox is not going away, although with acknowledgment that it’s not yet a complete solution. This is an important distinction to make. Google clearly sees a need to address how third-party cookies have moved significantly away from their original purpose – but can’t quite bring themselves to commit to deprecating them.

The timing itself is somewhat unfortunate, with Apple launching a new attack ad last week promoting Safari as the privacy-focussed choice. This announcement does little to dispel that notion for those who aren’t invested in the details and simply don’t want to be “spied on.” At the same time, Firefox has been working with Meta and others on a different browser-led measurement approach. While this hasn’t been universally popular, the theory is interesting – a net gain for user privacy by providing advertisers with anonymised data via the browser.

The years spent pushing for first-party data collection haven’t been wasted. Bringing this data into ad platforms can provide a significant competitive advantage. However, for those who weren’t preparing and still relied heavily on third-party cookies for performance, this announcement offers some reprieve for now.

A complete measurement solution

Ultimately, despite Google abandoning third-party cookie deprecation, prioritising first-party data and cookieless solutions remains essential for navigating the evolving privacy landscape. Read our guide to delivering connected measurement to ensure you have the right solution in place.