Google has scrapped plans to ban third-party cookies on Chrome in a move that could save news publishers tens of millions in ad revenue they had expected to lose.
But campaigners have warned that the “devil is in the detail” of Google’s new plan to offer Chrome users “informed choice” about the information they share with advertisers.
And regulators have been urged to ensure that the new plan does not unfairly reinforce the tech giant’s current dominance over the £37bn advertising market.
Google’s announcement comes four years after it first said it would be replacing publisher cookies with its own privacy Sandbox technology in a move which threatened hundreds of millions of pounds of display advertising revenue across the internet.
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Google’s vice president of Privacy Sandbox Anthony Chavez said in a blog post on Monday night: “…we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice.
“Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we 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. We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.
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“As this moves forward, it remains important for developers to have privacy-preserving alternatives. We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility. We also intend to offer additional privacy controls, so we plan to introduce IP Protection into Chrome’s Incognito mode.”
Web users who accept tracking cookies are far more valuable to publishers because advertisers will pay a premium to reach them with more targeted messaging.
Since 1994 cookies (tiny text files) have been stored in users’ web browsers and enabled advertisers to track them anonymously and so serve them with more relevant advertising.
They fuelled a boom in online news which saw the growth of advertising-fuelled websites like Buzzfeed, Vice and Business Insider in the 2000s.
But the online privacy movement has seen increasing numbers of users block cookies, which are already banned from Apple’s Safari browser.
Google has repeatedly delayed switching off cookies amid concerns from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that the move would increase the platform’s dominance over the UK advertising market.
Recent research has suggested that Privacy Sandbox could lead to a 60% reduction in online advertising revenue compared to the current cookies-based system.
Publishers have voiced deep concerns about Privacy Sandbox as a system which would reinforce Google’s market dominance and favour its own advertising platforms such as Youtube and Google Ad Manager.
In March, media consultant Matthew Scott Goldstein warned in Press Gazette that news publishers were facing the prospect of significant revenue decline in the first quarter of 2025 caused by the scheduled end of third-party cookies on Chrome and generative AI replacing conventional search.
A CMA spokesperson said on Monday: “We intervened and put in place commitments in 2022 because of concerns that Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals could distort competition by causing advertising spend to become even more concentrated on Google’s ecosystem at the expense of its competitors.
“We will need to carefully consider Google’s new approach to Privacy Sandbox, working closely with the ICO in this regard, and welcome views on Google’s revised approach – including possible implications for consumers and market outcomes.”
‘Google’s plan to enclose the open web has failed’
The Movement for an Open Web has campaigned against Google’s plans to outlaw advertising cookies.
Co-founder James Rosewell said: “This is a clear admission by Google that their plan to enclose the open web has failed. Their goal was to remove the interoperability that enabled businesses to work together without interference from monopolists but a combination of regulatory and industry pressure has put paid to that.
“We’ve long called for Privacy Sandbox to be allowed to compete on its merits. If advertisers prefer its approach, and consumers value the alleged privacy benefits, then it will be universally adopted. What wasn’t acceptable was for a solution like this to be forced on the market whilst removing any alternative choices.
“The devil is in the detail. Google say that they’re going to be offering consumers an informed choice. What’s important is that this choice is truly informed, unbiased and applies equally to Google’s own properties as it does to other B2B and B2C providers. Movement for an Open Web will be writing to the CMA before 12th August to ensure this is in place before they think of letting Google off the commitments.”
“There’s nothing in the announcement that prevents Google doing this all over again in the future. Regulators will need to ensure there are legally binding commitments on Google to guarantee interoperability in perpetuity.
“Movement for an Open Web started this process in September 2020. It’s now clear regulators are having an impact and they’re only just turning their attention to Apple and Google’s wider product range. After all, Google and Apple work as one company where Google pay Apple $20bn per year, and Apple receive 36% of search revenue. That unholy relationship needs to be unwound.”
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office enforces rules around data privacy and is currently consulting on whether to allow UK news publishers to be more strident in their messaging around cookie consent.
UK news publishers have asked to be allowed to follow colleagues in Germany and offer readers a blunt choice: consent to advertising cookies or pay to browse a website.
ICO deputy commissioner Stephen Bonner said: “We are disappointed that Google has changed its plans and no longer intends to deprecate third-party cookies from the Chrome Browser.
“From the start of Google’s Sandbox project in 2019, it has been our view that blocking third-party cookies would be a positive step for consumers.
“The new plan set out by Google is a significant change and we will reflect on this new course of action when more detail is available.
“Our ambition to support the creation of a more privacy-friendly internet continues. Despite Google’s decision, we continue to encourage the digital advertising industry to move to more private alternatives to third-party cookies – and not to resort to more opaque forms of tracking.
“We will monitor how the industry responds and consider regulatory action where systemic non-compliance is identified for all companies including Google.”
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