You heard that right. Third-party cookies are here to stay. What now?

By Eden Pierson
Content Manager

On Monday, July 22nd, Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox, announced that Google will no longer be phasing out third-party cookies. Instead, they plan to “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.”

“We expect that overall performance using Privacy Sandbox APIs will improve over time as industry adoption increases,” Chavez wrote. At the same time, we recognize this transition requires significant work by many participants and will impact publishers, advertisers, and everyone involved in online advertising.”

It’s now Thursday, July 25th, and after we managed to pick our jaws off the floor, we poured a strong cup of coffee, cracked our knuckles, and got straight to work, analyzing how we got here and where we were going. 

So, how did we get here?

Tracking how we got here is hard with all the third-party cookie saga changes. 

And to understand where the industry is headed, we need to know where we started. 

Let’s take a walk down memory lane.

2016: The European Union adopts the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), setting strict guidelines on how personal data is collected, stored, and processed.

2017: Apple begins blocking some cookies in Safari.

2019: Google Privacy Sandbox initiative rolls out. Firefox starts blocking cookies by default.

2020: The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), similar to GDPR, goes into effect. Apple blocks all cross-site tracking in Safari. Google announces impending depreciation of third-party cookies in Chrome.

2021: Apple launches mobile opt-out with their AppTrackingTransparency framework, which requires apps to obtain user permission before tracking their activity across other companies’ apps and websites. Google delays Chrome depreciation to 2023.

2022: Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) goes into effect.

2024: In 2024 alone, the industry jumps through hoop after hoop to prepare for the imminent loss of third-party cookies. 

If you got whiplash, so did we. 

Google’s decision to retain third-party cookies in Chrome while introducing a new user-choice experience is a complex move that raises as many questions as it answers. 

Are we still moving toward a cookieless future?

It remains to be seen whether the future will be completely cookie-less, but it will certainly be more privacy- and first-party-centric. 

“While [Google’s latest announcement] may offer a temporary reprieve for advertisers reliant on third-party cookies, it highlights the industry’s ongoing struggle to balance privacy with performance,” says Cara Ferguson, Adlucent’s Vice President of Practices. 

A struggle that is bound to continue. 

With Safari and Firefox blocking third-party cookies since 2020 and owning half of publisher traffic, privacy-first investments are still paramount. 

So, think twice before you throw your privacy-centric approaches and first-party technology out the window.

What does Google mean by “Informed Choice”

Google has yet to share details on how they intend to prioritize informed choice in Sandbox 2.0.

We are left wondering if Google will create opt-outs across the user’s entire Chrome journey or if it will be case by case. Only time will tell. 

At the end of the day, it’s about striking a balance between user choice and consent while upholding industry profitability and ROI.

Blair Mundy, Adlucent’s (Now BarkleyOKRP) Cloud Solutions Architect, encourages advertisers to shift their mindset; privacy should be seen as a goal, not an obstacle.

“It isn’t always easy to find morality and meaning in our work,” she says. “But by focusing on privacy rights, we can contribute to making the internet safe and beneficial while still finding ways to profit — the best of both worlds.”

What should advertisers do now?

Long story short, lean in. 

Advertisers who see Google’s latest announcement as a sign to abandon the first-party pedal are simultaneously forfeiting their chance to get ahead of the industry in its inevitable move toward a privacy-first web. 

As Google takes a step back, we will likely see regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act pop up as governments and policymakers try to bridge the gap for user privacy. 

In the meantime, advertisers should continue to leverage first-party data with technology like Enhanced Conversions, which enables advertisers to enhance their existing conversion tags by transmitting hashed first-party conversion data from their website to Google in a privacy-safe manner.

Third-party cookies are here to stay … for now.

Raheim Bundle, Adlucent’s Senior Director of Programmatic Advertising, shares the agency’s intention to continue prioritizing privacy-first approaches with their clients.

“Despite Google’s decision not to proceed with cookie depreciation, we will continue to pursue alternative privacy-first targeting strategies, supplementing third-party data targeting when necessary.” 

He continued, “Their reversal, after years of delays, underscores Google’s reliance on user information to enhance the users’ ad experience.”

We remain hopeful and committed to finding ways to preserve privacy with effective alternatives.

Are you looking for a partner to help you navigate the complexities of data privacy?

Contact our Chief Growth Officer, Jason Parks, at jparks@barkleyokrp.com to prove outperformance has no limit.