On July 22, 2024, Google announced that it was no longer deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome. This marks a significant shift in Google's approach to user privacy and online advertising.
To be fair, the whole process hasn’t exactly been an easy ride. Google has been working on the Privacy Sandbox, its proposed alternative to third-party cookies, for over four years. Throughout this period, the company has faced numerous challenges, leading to three delays in the release of the Privacy Sandbox. Each delay reflected how tricky it was to balance user privacy with the needs of advertisers and publishers. All the while, everyone in the industry was bracing themselves for what the post-cookie world would look like.
Now that third-party cookies are here to stay (for now), we’re giving you the inside scoop on why Google reversed its decision, what its new strategy is, and how this shift impacts publishers like you.
Why Google Is No Longer Deprecating Cookies
If you’ve been following the third-party cookie deprecation saga, you know that the development and testing of the Privacy Sandbox have been an intensely collaborative effort. Google actively sought feedback from a wide range of industry stakeholders, including publishers, developers, and regulators.
From the beginning, publishers have expressed concerns about maintaining revenue streams in a post-cookie landscape, while developers have focused on the technical implications of integrating new privacy-preserving technologies. Regulators, on the other hand, have emphasized the importance of protecting user privacy and ensuring compliance with evolving data protection laws.
Although this diverse input has been essential in shaping the features and functionality of the Privacy Sandbox, it has also meant that integrating all this feedback has been quite challenging.
What is the Industry's Feedback on the Privacy Sandbox?
The Privacy Sandbox has received mostly critical feedback. Concerns have been raised about its potential anti-competitive nature, with some stakeholders fearing that it could further strengthen Google's dominance in the digital advertising market. Publishers, in particular, are worried about the negative impact on their revenue streams. Recent testing has shown that adopting the Privacy Sandbox could lead to a significant 60% revenue loss, a figure that, understandably, has caused alarm throughout the industry.
Google pointed to the overwhelming and varied feedback from industry stakeholders as a key reason for its decision. However, it’s also likely that the significant impact of the Privacy Sandbox on publishers and advertisers and the fact that this was Google’s first time collaborating on such a solution played a role as well.
Additionally, during a recent virtual panel, Google surprised everyone when the Privacy Sandbox’s product manager Alex Cone made an important clarification. He said that the proposals for the Privacy Sandbox and the cookie deprecation deadline were never directly intertwined. In other words, the rollout of the Privacy Sandbox was never dependent on the timeline for phasing out cookies.
Despite Google's decision, regulatory bodies like the Competitive Markets Authority (CMA) may still force a rethink of their cookie deprecation strategy. Only time will tell how this will unfold.
What’s Happening to the Privacy Sandbox?
The Privacy Sandbox is here to stay, but it will now be optional. Google will continue to develop its APIs and expects their performance to improve over time as more companies adopt them. For example, some APIs, like the relevance and measurement APIs, have been available for testing in Chrome since last September.
The tech giant will also invest in new privacy features, such as IP Protection in Chrome’s Incognito mode, to help protect user identity by hiding IP addresses. This is part of Google’s bigger plan to balance user privacy with the needs of web developers and advertisers.
Even with these developments, the Privacy Sandbox will still face competition from other industry solutions. Various players in digital advertising and privacy are creating alternative technologies to protect user data while keeping advertising effective. These competing solutions could affect how widely the Privacy Sandbox is adopted and its overall success.
What is Google’s New Cookie Deprecation Strategy?
In a recent blog, Anthony Chavez, the VP of Privacy Sandbox, explained that Google would “introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.” There are many questions about this opt-out model, including how this experience will be presented to users, but Google has not released any further details, nor have they given a timeline.
We know that Google is currently working on the interface designs and plans to involve regulators in the process soon. This new feature could potentially resemble Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt, a pop up that lets users consent to or deny tracking.
Regulators’ Reaction to Google's Cookie Deprecation Decision
Privacy regulators, like the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), are not entirely thrilled with Google's decision. They believe that continuing to use third-party cookies undermines efforts to enhance user privacy online.
Stephen Bonner, the Deputy Commissioner at the ICO, expressed the organization’s disappointment, stating “From the start of Google’s Sandbox project in 2019, it has been our view that blocking third party cookies would be a positive step for consumers…We will monitor how the industry responds and consider regulatory action where systemic non-compliance is identified for all companies including Google.”
As things develop, both regulators and the industry will need to work together to keep user privacy a top priority.
How Will Google's Decision to Keep Cookies Impact Publishers?
Google’s decision to abandon the deprecation of third-party cookies gives publishers a bit more time, but it doesn’t change the big picture. The push for stronger user privacy regulation is still moving forward, meaning the industry will have to move away from relying on third-party data anyway.
Right now, publishers are in a tough spot because we don’t have all the details about Google’s opt-out tool. This makes it hard to plan for the future. On the other hand, once Google’s Privacy Sandbox is fully developed, it could be a useful tool for publishers in a world without cookies. However, it will require some experimentation to get it right.
Our Recommendations for Publishers
As Google’s new cookie strategy takes shape, publishers should continue looking at other ways to gather and use data. Some options include:
- First-party Cookies: These cookies collect data directly from your audience and provide insights into your users and their behaviors.
- Contextual Advertising: This type of advertising targets ads based on the content of the page rather than relying on user data.
- PPIDs: PPIDs, or Publisher Provided Identifiers, are encrypted distinguishers assigned by publishers to uniquely identify users.
There are plenty of other third-party cookie alternatives to include in your data strategy, but experimenting with these solutions can be overwhelming and time-consuming. We’ve never believed in “one-size-fits-all” solutions at Snigel, which is why we’ve enhanced our AdEngine solution to support a blend of ID solutions, contextual advertising, and other cookie alternatives to help publishers avoid revenue loss, regardless of what happens to third-party cookies. Plus, our ad operations team can analyze your site and see which cookie-less strategy is best for you. To see how we can develop a privacy-friendly data strategy tailored to your site, get in touch.
Here at Snigel we’re continuing to invest in alternatives to third-party cookies, as they will help us generate more revenue for our publishers from browsers, like Safari, that don’t support cookies. We’ll also collaborate closely with the Google Ads team to adopt any new best practices and solutions that emerge from Google’s decision.
Elysée is Snigel's Marketing Executive. She keeps our team up-to-date by researching and writing about the latest AdTech trends and creates our publisher newsletter. With a background in academia, Ely is passionate about making complex industry topics clear and engaging for readers.
