You know what they say: If you give a mouse a third-party cookie, he’s going to want your shopping preferences, device specifications, search history, household income, age, gender, session length, browser version, screen size, and list of all the sites you visit for the next two years to go with it.
Something like that.
Despite earlier announcements about their phase-out, Google has revised its plan regarding third-party cookies. Instead of phasing them out entirely, Google will now offer enhanced user controls that allow individuals to opt in or out of sharing their data via these cookies.
That’s right—years into its plan to get rid of third-party cookies and moving deadlines back multiple times, Google has now decided not to get rid of them at all.
This shift may require you to reevaluate how you track user interactions on your website.
If you’ve been relying on third-party cookies for user tracking or advertising, it’s important to understand these changes and consider integrating new strategies that align with Google’s updated privacy framework.
If you are wondering what the hell a third-party cookie is, or if you aren’t sure if you’re using third-party cookies to track your users—keep reading.
What are Third-Party Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your computer or phone by websites. First-party cookies help you stay logged in and remember your preferences on specific sites. Third-party cookies track your activity across different websites. These are downloaded by your browser from other sites in the background when you visit certain websites.
Third-party cookies can then be accessed by other websites. So if you accidentally glance at a pair of sneakers on one site, don’t be surprised if they haunt you on another site begging you to buy them. This is how advertisers track you as you move from site to site, and show all the other people in your household ads for the birthday presents you looked at, but didn’t buy for them. Basically.
But besides stalking and ruining birthday surprises, third-party cookies can be used for things like online behavioral advertising and retargeting.
Why do they call them “third-party”? Because these cookies aren’t baked by the site you’re visiting. They’re whipped up by other sites who want to get to know you better (or to be more precise, sell you stuff).
So, when you visit “example.domain”, you might find you end up with a cookie or two that isn’t actually from “example.domain,” but from a place like:
- cdn.example.com
- g.doubleclick.net
- pixel.facebook.com
- browseandtell.trackify.io
- www2.win.a.free.ipad.eviltrack.scamman.akamai.middleclick.telnet:23
Or more likely, you’ll end up with cookies from all of the above.
Why Was Google Planning to Get Rid of Them?
Google originally announced their plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome in early 2020. I’m not sure why no one remembers this. Was anything else even going on at that time? Who can say.
Despite that initial announcement, Google postponed the complete removal of third-party cookies multiple times before backtracking on it entirely. This decision follows challenges and significant feedback from various sectors including industry leaders, regulators, and developers. (For one, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has played a crucial role, requiring more time to review the impacts and potential outcomes of the change.)
The new timeline didn’t specify an exact date, but hoped for completion by 2025. As Google said back in April 2024:
Given (…) these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4.
We remain committed to engaging closely with the CMA and ICO and we hope to conclude that process this year. Assuming we can reach an agreement, we envision proceeding with third-party cookie deprecation starting early next year.
This delay would have given brands some additional time to prepare and explore alternatives like those proposed in Google’s Privacy Sandbox, though these alternatives have faced their own share of scrutiny and criticism.
The main reason Google was previously planning to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome is that—no surprise—they can be used to invade people’s privacy. And that’s not as cool these days as it was a few years ago.
Websites, including ones you’ve never actually “visited,” can use them to track your every move online and build up a pretty detailed picture of who you are, what you like, and what you’re interested in. Then they can use that information to show you targeted ads.
The shift away from third-party cookies doesn’t seem to be on the horizon anymore. Google is instead taking a measured approach to support user privacy. Very measured.
So instead of “Why was Google trying to get rid of third party cookies,” perhaps the better question is…
Why Haven’t All the Browsers Gotten Rid of Them?
Well, the Internet’s basically funded by advertising, and targeted advertising is more effective (and thus more expensive) than clunky, un-targeted advertising. So, there’s a lot of money to be made by companies that track people online.
And, until recently, there wasn’t a lot of public outcry about it. Most people just assumed that’s how the Internet worked, and they were okay with it. And that worked out pretty good for the companies that were tracking people, because they could just keep on doing it and making money. Then in 2019, there was that whole Facebook data fiasco, and the general public started getting a lot more worried about their online privacy.
By February 2020, a national survey showed that 96% of adult U.S. residents felt more should be done to protect consumer privacy. (Again, not sure why no one remembers this—did Joe Exotic distract us all that much?)
When are These Third-Party Cookies Going Away?
Not for the foreseeable future. Google had plans to phase them out in Chrome by sometime in 2025, but they have canceled those plans after multiple deadline pushbacks.
It’s still not entirely clear how Google would have replaced the functionality third-party cookies, but they were planning on using a new initiative called Privacy Sandbox.
What is the Privacy Sandbox? No one really knows at the moment. We do know that it’s a set of open standards that will allow advertisers to target ads without using third-party cookies or invading people’s privacy. Supposedly.
Its stated mission is to “Create a thriving web ecosystem that is respectful of users and private by default.”
The launch of the Privacy Sandbox was originally planned for mid-2023, but the timeline was pushed back; presumably along with the timelines for the launches of Google’s other projects—Cone of Silence, Purity of Essence, and Project Skynet.
In a nutshell, it seems that the plan is to replace third-party cookies in Chrome with a set of proprietary technological solutions that will ultimately achieve the same thing: targeted advertising. But do it in a way that’s more private. But, y’know, not actually that private. What could go wrong?
Wait, This Was Only Going to Happen in Chrome Anyway?
Yes—This was only happening in Chrome. So why was it such a big deal? Why were search marketers acting like third party cookies were going away everywhere?
Well, Chrome had a global browser market share of 65.24% at the original publish date of this article in November 2022. And 21 months later, in August 2024, that share has remained rock steady at 65.41%.
The 2nd place browser? Safari with 18.36%.
Firefox… how far you’ve fallen. (I’m not even going to tell you how Opera ranks at this point.)
So, if Chrome had gone cookie-less, a lot of people would have been affected. Like about every 2 out of 3 people on earth.
What Does Google’s Backtracking Mean for Your Business?
The prospect of a third-party-cookieless future was, understandably, a little worrying for companies that rely on targeted advertising to reach their customers.
After all, if you can’t use the personal data that those cookies glean from tracking people online, how are you supposed to show them ads for the things they’re interested in?
And how could anyone have planned appropriately for their next moves when it was still uncertain exactly how the Privacy Sandbox will work—or what it even was?
Let’s look at a couple of the things business owners may have run into in our narrowly-averted cookieless future:
- Personalization Would Have Been More Difficult (Or at Least Different) – If you run a website that relies on personalization—say, you’re a luxury car dealer, and you want to show high-end cars to people who can afford them—you’re going to have a tough time without third-party cookies.
- Audience Targeting Would Probably Have Become Much Less Reliable – Again, we don’t really know how Google was going to replace third-party cookies, but it seems unlikely that they could track people as effectively as they do now given that they’ll have to respect people’s privacy. So, your audience targeting may not have been as laser-precise as it currently can be.
Google has what some might call “a lot of power on the Internet.” So, when they make a change like this, it can have a big impact on your online operations.
Now while we get to hold onto our cookies, the Privacy Sandbox is still in development, and it might be a while before it’s ready for prime time.
In the meantime, here are some areas you can focus on improving to make sure your business is prepared regardless of any coming changes:
- Diversify Your Traffic Sources – If you’re relying on a single traffic source (like Google Ads), you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. And if that traffic source goes away, or becomes less effective, you’re in trouble. So, make sure you’re diversifying your traffic sources, so you’re not too dependent on any one of them.
- Build a First-Party Data Strategy – A lot of the data that’s used for targeted advertising comes from third-party cookies. But you can also collect data yourself—through your website, email list, social media, etc. And that data is much more valuable because you own it and you can use it however you want. So, start thinking about how you can collect data yourself, so you’re not as reliant on third-party cookies.
- Focus on Increasing Organic Traffic through Search Engine Optimization – If you primarily rely on paid traffic from a single source, you’re at the mercy of the platform you’re using. But if you focus on organic traffic, you’re in control. Invest in SEO, so you rank higher in search results and get more traffic to your website.
- Focus More on Relationship & Influencer Marketing – At the end of the day, targeted advertising is a numbers game. You’re trying to reach as many people as possible in the hopes that a small percentage of them will convert. But if you focus on building relationships with your customers, you can increase loyalty and lifetime value.
- Dust Off Your Email Marketing Hat – Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your customers, and it’s not going anywhere. In fact, it may become even more important as targeted advertising becomes more difficult. So, make sure you’re collecting email addresses, and sending regular emails to your list.
In short, diversify your traffic sources, build a first-party data strategy, and focus on SEO, organic traffic, email marketing, and relationship marketing.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox isn’t done cooking, and third-party cookies aren’t vanishing just yet, but don’t sit this one out. Get proactive.
Adjust your digital marketing strategies—and keep your business agile. That way, no matter how the cookie crumbles, you’re ready for it.
