Google’s End of Third-Party Deadline Announcement

On June 24, 2021, Google announced an updated timeline that delays its plans to phase out third-party cookies in its Chrome browser until 2023. This delay is over a year past its previous 2022 target date. While other browsers, such as Safari and Firefox, have already implemented some default blocking against third-party cookies, Chrome will have the biggest impact.

This announcement is good news for most companies, but not because they should slow down plans to prepare for the end of third-party cookies. Instead, this delay gives companies more time to test and strategize how they will use the end of third-party cookies to sustain revenue and create a competitive advantage.

Learn more about the end of third-party cookies in Chrome here.

Why is Google Extending the Third-Party Cookies Deadline?

To understand the intent behind this deadline extension, there are some key factors you need to know:

• Google’s decision has been influenced by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s investigation into Google’s Privacy Sandbox approach to replacing third-party cookies.
• Phasing out third-party cookies will include a three-month phase-out which will end in late 2023.
• On July 13, Google ended its current trial of Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC),  so they can improve it based on the feedback.
• While FLoC is the most popular proposal, Google plans to test other cookie-less ad methods in development as part of its  Privacy Sandbox initiative.

Most importantly, this deadline extension doesn’t mean you should pause your plan for how to continue personalization for marketing and advertising in a cookie-less world – plan and strategize now to put your campaigns in a better position by 2023.

Third-Party Cookies Updated Timeline

Google’s announcement comes from a blog post that describes the decision to phase out third-party cookies over a “three-month period” in mid-2023. Additionally, their timeline is “subject to our engagement with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).” Essentially, Google realizes the importance of not only working with invested companies but regulators as well.

The company is promising a “more detailed schedule” will be posted to its Privacy Sandbox website. As they continue working with the CMA, their current timeline for phasing out support for third-party cookies will come in two stages.

These stages consist of:

• Stage 1 (Starting late-2022): Once testing is complete and APIs are launched in Chrome, Google will announce the start of stage 1. During stage 1, publishers and advertisers will have the ability to migrate their services. Google expects this stage to last for nine months and will monitor adoption and feedback carefully before moving to stage 2.
• Stage 2 (Starting mid-2023): This is when Chrome will phase out support for third-party cookies over a three-month period finishing in late 2023.