Google Chrome – Cookies to Stay – For Now

Google dropped a bomb-shell on the advertising industry, this week, with an announcement that they were walking back their decision in 2019, to do away with third-party tracking cookies on Google Chrome completely by 2025. Google’s VP of Privacy Sandbox, Anthony Chavez, wrote a blog post this week, confirming that instead of deprecating third-party cookies, 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.”

This has caused a major reaction within the advertising industry with many senior people and industry regulators questioning the sudden reversal after years of lead-up to the planned removal of 3rd Party Cookies.

The Industry had for years, prepared themselves for a Cookie –less industry with many advertisers and agencies investing large sums in acquiring 1st party data and investing in other approaches to digital consumer tracking. The whole issue of privacy was the core reason for the change being sought and this seems to be left hanging without a conclusion or a definitive approach to how marketers move forward on this.

Industry amazed by decision

Chris Botha, Group Managing Director of Park Advertising (South Africa) commented on LinkedIn, “After years of preparation, speculation, blood, sweat and tears – Google have decided to halt the third party cookie deprecation process! Insane. I actually had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t the 1st of April” he said. Taking a stab at the decision he continued “Here’s the thing – companies spent millions (billions?) on preparing for this event, and are now prepared to move forward – less reliant on cookies. With companies less reliant on Google cookies, what does it mean for their share of the advertising pie?

The announcement comes in the wake of scrutiny from some players in the advertising industry who raised questions around Privacy Sandbox, Google’s privacy tool, that had been developed by Google as an alternative to tracking cookies. The industry and privacy activist organisations voiced concerns for any new identity solutions adopted, to create a fair playing field for the public, publishers, advertisers and tech companies alike.

The Way Ahead Unclear

There is massive pressure on Large media and Tech groups to offer open standards within the tracking solutions and there are those who believe that a single solution is not the way to go. Further questions have been raised as to how the proposed new approach from Google to allow more control for users to determine their own privacy, would work practically.

InMarkets Chief Product officer delivered a clear message “This is far from over” he said, This, has little to do with cookies, but instead the architecture of open plan standards versus proprietary solutions for the web” he added.

While the way forward for the industry is not clear, what is certain is that marketers and the advertising industry will need to deal with the situation of tracking and the collection of personal data sooner rather than later with so many countries and regulators demanding complete anonymity for consumers.