Google Developers reported, that due to tests being carried out by UK regulators, the opt-out of third-party cookies is being reopened. Advertising technology, which was planned to be completely phased out by the fourth quarter of 2024, will continue to operate until at least 2025.
Recall that originally Goodge planned, which won't get rid of third-party cookies until 2022. Then the deadline was postponed, and the refusal was postponed until 2023, and then until 2024. It was previously expected that testing of the Privacy Sandbox advertising platform, which is designed to replace the use of tracking cookies, will last until 2024. At the same time, from the first quarter of 2024, about 1% of third-party cookies were supposed to be abandoned, and by the fourth quarter they wanted to be completely disabled by default.
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However, the company's plans changed again. In a blog post, Google engineers write that this time the delay is due to British legislation.
“We recognize that there are currently challenges in reconciling the various feedback from industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to work closely with the entire ecosystem,” the new message reads.
In particular, questions about the new system arose from the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). However, the CMA is not concerned about user privacy, but about other online advertising companies that compete with Google. So, the UK authorities want to make sure that Google makes changes to Chrome without harming its competitors in order to maintain its own advertising business.
As a reminder, while other browser makers are moving away from third-party cookies, Google said it will not disable the feature while it builds an alternative advertising platform built right into Chrome to track users' interests and serve them relevant ads based on their browsing history. .
The new system, called Topics API or Privacy Sandbox, began to unfold in Chrome in 2023, and Google AdSense is already compatible with it.
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But UK authorities are concerned that Chrome's new advertising platform could give the company an unfair advantage. Google said it was “very important that the CMA has sufficient time to consider all the evidence, including industry test results, which market participants must provide to the CMA by the end of June.”
As a result, Google said it is actively cooperating with the CMA and the ICO and, if an agreement can be reached, plans to begin phasing out the use of third-party cookies early next year.