Third-party cookies are living on in Chrome – at least for a little longer than expected.

In a move with relevance for marketers/advertisers in the promotional products market and across industries, Google announced that it’s delaying plans to eliminate third-party cookies from its Chrome browser until at least 2025.

Earlier this year, Google began winding down third-party cookies by rolling out to 1% of Chrome users “tracking protection” – a feature that limits cross-website tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default.

At the time, Google planned to nix the cookies by the fourth quarter of 2024. However, amid concerns from industry and regulators like the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google is rolling back the elimination date. It has previously delayed the phase-out several times.

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem,” Google said in a statement. “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.”

Stacy Price, vice president of marketing at Top 40 distributor AIA Corporation (asi/109480), said the delay in eliminating third-party cookies gives marketers/advertisers a longer grace period to adjust their digital strategies – something they should have been working on already.

“Strategic investments in privacy-friendly innovations are necessary for success in a cookie-less future.” Stacy Price, AIA Corporation (asi/109480)

“This extends the time for testing new technologies and maintaining precise advertising targeting, enhancing ROI,” Price told ASI Media, though she added that there are downsides, too.

Price continued: “However, it also prolongs privacy concerns and could hinder innovation. Marketers should focus on strengthening first-party data strategies and prioritizing transparent communication with consumers about data usage. Overall, strategic investments in privacy-friendly innovations are necessary for success in a cookie-less future.”

Approximately
65%
Percentage of worldwide web traffic that occurs on Google’s Chrome browser.

Cookies are blocks of data created by a web server while an internet user is on a website. These data blocks are then placed on the user’s computer or smart device by the browser.

Third-party cookies are put on a website by someone other than the site’s owner: a third party, like an advertiser/advertising vendor, for instance. In effect, these cookies can be used to track internet users around the web – a potentially effective tool for advertisers/marketers, but one that raises a spectrum of privacy concerns.

Other browsers, including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox, have already clamped down on the use of third-party cookies. Google’s decision to cut the cookies out on Chrome is a bigger deal for marketers because Chrome is the planet’s largest browser, accounting for about 65% of worldwide web traffic.

“Removing third-party cookies is the latest step in protecting individual privacy, and I predict these efforts will only continue to expand,” Phil Gergen, chief information officer at Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480), has told ASI Media.