What Google’s Decision to Cancel Third-Party Cookie Deprecation Means for Marketers

Digital Marketing / August 01, 2024

🗣 “The Cookie Apocalypse”

🗣 “The Death of Third-Party Cookies” 

🗣 “The Cookie Purge”

Over the past four years, marketers have been bombarded with endless dramatic talks about Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies. Why? The removal of third-party cookies by the world’s biggest browser was set to turn digital marketing on its head, drastically changing how we approach online marketing.

• Tried and true tactics like remarketing would be way less effective. 
• Conversion tracking would be more difficult, leaving marketers with gaps in their attribution strategies
• Tracking user behaviours across websites would be more challenging, making it harder to deliver personalized ads

Given the significant impact of this project, Google wanted to find alternative solutions that would prioritize user privacy in its browser without disadvantaging advertisers. And, turns out, that wasn’t an easy task.

In a huge turn of events, the tech giant decided to backtrack and keep third-party cookies. Yep, you read that right. 

Google won’t be removing third-party cookies from Chrome. 

Crisis averted. Apocalypse cancelled…

Let’s take a look back at what happened and what it means for marketers and advertisers.

Google’s Third-Party Cookies Deprecation Timeline

For the past four years, Google warned users that it’s not a matter of if, but when third-party cookies would go away. Google reversed its decision after multiple delays:

Why is Google Keeping Third-Party Cookies?

Several factors contributed to Google reversing its decision to phase out third-party cookies, with significant pressure from industry regulators and stakeholders being one of them. 

Also, testing revealed that the absence of third-party cookies led to a 20% revenue loss for advertisers, even with the Privacy Sandbox in place. Given that advertising revenue is crucial to Google’s business model, it is likely that these financial impacts played a role in the company’s decision to reconsider its plans.

Google’s New Solution for Added Privacy in Chrome

Ok, so third-party cookies are here to stay… But what about user privacy? The whole point of deprecating third-party cookies was to answer rising privacy concerns from users. 

In an effort to still offer a more private browsing experience for Chrome users, Google intends to give them more control over their web browsing privacy.

From what we understand, Google might introduce a sort of browser-wide consent management platform. This means that users could potentially opt out of all website tracking in a few clicks.

What does it mean for marketers?

It’s still early to tell exactly what the impact of Google’s backtrack will be, but here’s what our digital marketing agency expects.

An Echo of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency

Google’s new solution does remind us of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency protocol. 

In 2021, during the iOS 14 update, Apple launched a new privacy feature. From now on, every iPhone app has to ask user permission to track them across different applications.

It’s difficult to determine the exact impact of this solution on user opt-in rates, but this article indicates that in 2022, only 26% of users who received the prompt agreed to tracking. If Google implements its solution, we can expect similar or lower opt-in rates.

So, advertisers will continue to face challenges with conversion tracking, remarketing, and ad targeting, regardless of the presence of third-party cookies.

So, good news… all your efforts to deal with the sunset of third-party cookies, weren’t wasted. Collecting first-party data and implementing advanced tracking solutions like server-side tracking and Google’s Enhanced Conversion is as relevant as ever.

User Privacy Still Remains Crucial

Even though Google holds the largest market share in digital advertising, its decision to potentially retain third-party cookies does not diminish the importance of user privacy. Other browsers, such as Safari, are taking a completely different approach.  Safari already phased out third-party cookies years ago, and they keep adding security features for users. In July 2024, they introduced Private Browsing 2.0 including its privacy-first feature: Link Tracking Protection. This feature removes tracking information from URLs as you navigate between websites.

So, keeping user privacy top of mind when launching new marketing initiatives is still crucial, not only for compliance with evolving regulations but also for maintaining trust and fostering positive relationships with consumers in an increasingly privacy-conscious world.

“Businesses have invested significant resources and shifted their strategies to adapt to a cookieless world. While the ongoing changes can be frustrating, any initiative that enhances user privacy is a step in the right direction.”

Gaël Cottet, Director of Data Analytics at Bloom

It’s not over yet

Google’s decision to retain third-party cookies doesn’t mean the conversation around privacy and data collection is over. Instead, it’s a reminder that the digital marketing landscape is in a constant state of flux. By prioritizing user privacy, embracing advanced tracking technologies, and leveraging first-party data, marketers can continue to thrive in this evolving environment.

We look forward to seeing this story evolve in the next few months. We can’t wait to see what Google’s new “privacy experience” on Chrome will actually look like.