Google is continuing to work on its Privacy Sandbox project to get rid of cookies from web browsers, but don’t expect anything radical until at least the end of 2024.
Privacy Sandbox hopes to phase out third-party cookies and limit covert tracking, but this involves building new technologies, working with publishers and developers, and collaborating with the entire industry, which seems to be taking a long time.
By previous calculations, third-party cookies should have been gone by the end of last year. Then, Google said it had pushed its deadline to the end of 2023. Now, though, we’re looking at the end of 2024.
Google third-party cookies
In its latest quarterly report to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google stated that it’s working toward removing third-party cookies in H2 2024, which will involve a phased approach. The company says that it will take two months for the full rollout to happen in Chrome.
Taking the place of third-party cookies, Privacy Sandbox hopes to introduce a host of less invasive APIs. This includes Topics API, a “standardized taxonomy of interests” that limits the length of browsing history that’s considered when surfacing ads, and a more enhanced version that can take into account context.
There’s also FLEDGE API that categorizes users as members of a certain market segment; Attribution Reporting API that assesses ad clicks, leads, and conversions; Private State Tokens API to help combat fraud; and First Party Sets API that allows multiple domains owned by the same entity to be considered part of the same first party.
The developments have not been met without (due and legitimate) concern, though, which Google outlines and handles in its latest report. Regardless of when cookies will be deprecated, it’s clear that web developers need to get on board with the movement or they risk being left behind.
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