Google is completely canceling its plans to disable third-party cookies in the Chrome browser. This happened after three postponements of the deadline - the company was originally supposed to disable third-party cookies back in January 2020. This was reported by The Verge.
Instead, Chrome will offer users "to make an informed choice," writes Anthony Chavez, vice president of Google Privacy Sandbox. The new method is currently being discussed with regulators.
In response to this news, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority announced that Chrome will "introduce a notice that will allow users to choose whether to use third-party cookies." There are no details on how this will work.
The Google Ads team also released a whitepaper showing the results of preliminary tests of Privacy Sandbox technology, which was positioned as a cookie replacement. Google's display advertising ROI results showed a 97% recovery, but performance declined when trying to attract the same customers with repeat ads, showing only a 55% recovery in the cost of re-marketing audiences.
As you know, the postponement of the opt-out was caused by the criticism of such a decision by regulatory authorities. Bodies such as the UK Competition and Markets Authority and the UK Information Commissioner's Office pointed to the possibility of new privacy risks or potential harm to competition and unfair benefits for the search giant's own advertising business.