Google scraps plans to eliminate cookies for advertisers.

• Google announced on Monday that it has decided to abandon its plan to eliminate third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, after years of postponing the move.
• The cancellation of third-party cookies would affect everyone involved in online advertising.
• The latest update is the most recent of several delays since the initial announcement in 2021.

Google has announced that it will no longer delay the cancellation and replacement of third-party cookies in its internet browser Chrome.

Small pieces of code, known as cookies, are delivered by websites to a visitor's browser and remain on their device as they visit other sites. This practice has significantly contributed to the development of the digital advertising industry and its capacity to track users across multiple websites in order to personalize advertisements.

Google announced that it would discontinue support for certain cookies by early 2022 after determining how to address the concerns of users, publishers, and advertisers and develop solutions to simplify workarounds.

Google's "Privacy Sandbox" initiative aims to protect user privacy while keeping content freely available on the open web. In January, the company expressed confidence in the progress of its proposals to replace cookies, which include "Federated Learning of Cohorts." This approach would group users based on similar browsing behaviors, using only "cohort IDs" instead of individual user IDs to target them.

In June 2021, Google delayed the timeline for digital advertising, allowing the industry more time to adjust to privacy-conscious targeted ads. However, in 2022, the company announced that feedback from advertisers showed they needed more time to transition to Google's cookie replacement, as some pushed back, claiming it would negatively impact their businesses.

The company has announced that it has cancelled its plan to eliminate third-party cookies in its browser following feedback from advertisers and regulators.

The company discovered that the transition would necessitate "significant work by many participants" and would affect publishers, advertisers, and virtually everyone involved in online advertising.

"Instead of phasing out third-party cookies, we will introduce a new feature in Chrome that allows users to make an informed decision about their web browsing, which they can adjust at any time. We are currently discussing this new approach with regulators and will collaborate with the industry as we implement it."