Google has announced that it will not proceed with its initial plan – previously covered in this POV – to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome. Instead, Google will maintain the use of third-party cookies for those who do not disable them. This decision marks a shift from its previous strategy, which was aimed at enhancing user privacy while preserving advertising effectiveness. The shift emerges from feedback from many stakeholders and evaluation against privacy and antitrust regulations, and it will impact the advertising ecosystem.
In place of deprecating third-party cookies, Google is introducing a new approach that emphasizes user choice. A one-time prompt will be rolled out, allowing users to set their preferences for cookie usage across all Google browsing experiences. This new prompt aims to provide users with more control over their privacy settings, which they can adjust at any time.
For our clients, this means that while third-party cookies will remain in use, it’s crucial to stay informed about the evolving landscape and consider incorporating alternative strategies to ensure advertising effectiveness and compliance with privacy standards.
It’s also worth noting that what Google is describing is something that Firefox and DuckDuckGo already have in place via Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal standards.
There is not currently a rollout timeline, but the impact on media targeting will be analyzed to understand its effect on campaign reach and performance. The cookieless testing executed to date was not in vain. Our learnings from those tests regarding reach and price will carry over as we evaluate the long-term place of alternate IDs in the media landscape.
This is breaking news on a four-plus-year rollout. We will continue to keep clients abreast of how the industry reacts. We will ensure campaigns are set up for success, as we are primed to take advantage of innovation born out of preparation for the long-anticipated shift.
NOTE: This is a separate topic from cookie consent as managed by an on-site data privacy platform (e.g., OneTrust), although it is related to the theme of emphasizing user choice. With the state-by-state decision and rollout to incorporate an opt-in capability via websites, we will continue to see the deprecation of cookie acceptance for measurement and retargeting purposes. This choice is prompted by the website experience where users can decide what their tracking preferences are on a site-by-site basis. In addition, AdChoices remains a pillar of advertising, giving the user a consistent location to opt out of advertising on a user level.
To learn more about the impact of privacy legislation on paid media and your brand, contact us.