Google says it will definitely ditch cookies…by 2024
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Google continues to work on its Privacy Sandbox project to remove cookies web browsersbut don’t expect anything drastic until at least the end of 2024.
Privacy Sandbox hopes to phase out third-party cookies and limit secret tracking, but this includes building new technologies, working with publishers and developers, and collaborating with the entire industry, which seems like a long time coming.
According to previous calculations, third-party cookies should have disappeared by the end of last year. Then Google said it had moved its deadline to the end of 2023. Now, though, we’re looking at the end of 2024.
Google Third Party Cookies
In his latest quarterly report (opens in new tab) to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google stated that it is working to remove third-party cookies in H2 2024, which will involve a phased approach. The company says it will be two months before the full rollout in Chrome.
Instead of third-party cookies, Privacy Sandbox hopes to introduce a host of less invasive APIs. This includes the Topics API, a “standardized taxonomy of interests” that limits the length of browsing history that is taken into account when serving ads, and an enhanced version that can take context into account.
There is also a FLEDGE API that categorizes users as members of a particular market segment; Attribution Reporting API that rates ad clicks, leads, and conversions; Private State Tokens API to help fight fraud; and First Party Sets API that allows multiple domains owned by the same entity to be considered part of the same first party.
However, developments have not been without (appropriate and legitimate) concerns, which Google outlines and addresses in its latest report. Regardless of when cookies are being phased out, it’s clear that web developers need to join the movement or risk falling behind.