Another postponement: Google’s successor for advertising cookies will not come until 2024
For the third time, Google has postponed the planned introduction of the cookie successor. The changeover to Chrome should not take place until 2024.
Google has again postponed the planned replacement of advertising cookies in its own Chrome browser. Only in the second half of 2024 will the group “start to abolish third-party cookies in Chrome by default” and replace them with the so-called privacy sandbox. This change was originally planned for early 2022. Then it was said that the changeover should be completed by the third quarter of 2023.
As a reason for the recent postponement, Google now states that after working closely with developers, publishers, advertisers and regulators, they have heard unanimously that “more time is needed”. Therefore, the test period will be extended.
Criticism of personalized advertising
With the Privacy Sandbox, Google wants to establish a successor for third-party cookies, also because many data protection authorities have lost patience with the current practices of personalized advertising. Google promises “privacy-friendly alternatives” to cross-site tracking. Since the spring, several substitute technologies have been tested for this. The aim is to retain as many aspects of personalized advertising as possible, while at the same time restricting the flow of information in such a way that advertisers can no longer unrestrictedly monitor people on the Internet.
The recent delay could cause problems with impatient data protection authorities. At the same time, it is not yet clear whether the new procedures such as FLoC, Topics and FLEDGE are compatible with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In Google’s announcement of the deadline extension, there are now words of approval from the industry. The trade association of the online advertising industry IAB states that this is a “welcome development for the industry”. This allows further thorough testing before implementation.
