Google has again announced a delay in the deprecation of third-party cookies in its popular Chrome browser. It is not the first time the search giant has delayed the deprecation, it is the third instance.
Google first announced the deprecation of cookies in Chrome browser by 2022, then pushed the plans further back to 2023. Again, it delayed its plans and said it would end cookies in the second half of 2024. But now it seems that the deprecation will not likely happen until the start of 2025. Additionally, the company has pointed to the reason for the latest delay.
The decision to delay the deprecation of cookies in Chrome comes after “divergent feedback”
The announcement to delay the deprecation of cookies in Chrome comes a few days before the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) releases a quarterly report on the matter. The company stated that the feedback from the industry, regulators, and developers is the main reason behind the delay.
In the announcement posted on its Privacy Sandbox website, Google mentioned “It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”
Not to forget, with Privacy Sandbox, Google wants to replace cookies, cross-site tracking identifiers, and other options with more reliable alternatives. To achieve this, it has been developing different technologies since 2020. This includes Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting, Private Aggregation, Shared Storage, and Fenced Frames. The company even tested a feature to block third-party cookies in Google Chrome at the start of 2024.
It’s not that Google is intentionally delaying the deprecation of cookies in Google Chrome. It has no option but to team up with CMA to ensure the new tools won’t offer it an unfair advantage. In short, the decision isn’t entirely in the hands of the search giant.