Google backtracks: third-party cookies remain in Chrome

Five years ago, it seemed like the prelude to a paradigm shift. Google, in a statement that quickly went around the world, announced its intention to eliminate third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. A gesture that promised to redefine the boundary between advertising and online privacy. It was supposed to be a revolution, but instead turned out to be a long pause for thought. Google, five years after the announcement - and a few days after an adverse ruling, accusing it of monopolising online advertising - has decided: those 'digital biscuits' will continue to crumble in our online sessions.

This was announced in a calm but unequivocal tone by Antony Chavez, Vice President of Google's Privacy Sandbox project. In a post, Chavez explained that, in light of the technological and regulatory changes of the past few years, Mountain View has chosen to 'maintain the current approach' and not introduce any new requirements for users to manage cookies. Thus, the Mountain View giant decided to maintain the current system, allowing users to manage their preferences through their browser's privacy settings, without introducing any new explicit requests.

In 2020, Google promised an epoch-making breakthrough: to phase out third-party cookies, responsible for a large part of online advertising profiling, in favour of a more privacy-friendly web. Understandably, this is no small choice: at the heart of the discussion is the technology that allows the tracking of users' online activity. A tool that has more or less always been used by advertisers halfway around the world to plan their campaigns and to make sure that users come across ads close to their interests. Then, the weather. The postponements. The negotiations with publishers, developers, regulators and - above all - the advertising industry. 'It is clear that there are divergent perspectives'.

Meanwhile, new avenues have emerged. Privacy technologies have evolved, artificial intelligence has opened up alternative horizons for data protection, and laws - from the European GDPR to the Digital Markets Act - have reshaped the rules of the game. Against this changing backdrop, Google has chosen to backtrack.

Chrome, Chavez explained, will, however, continue to strengthen protections in Incognito mode (where third-party cookies are already blocked by default) and will launch a new 'IP Protection' feature in Q3 2025, designed to mask users' IP addresses while browsing.