In a major development that signals a strategic shift in its long-running privacy overhaul, Google has confirmed that it will retain third-party cookies on its Chrome browser. The tech giant, which had initially announced plans in early 2020 to phase out third-party cookies by 2022 (later postponed multiple times), has now formally decided to abandon the timeline altogether—at least for the foreseeable future.

The announcement was made public by Anthony Chavez, Vice President of the Privacy Sandbox initiative at Google, and comes amid mounting industry pressure and concerns around the potential disruption to digital advertising, measurement, and web monetization ecosystems. “We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” Chavez said.

Instead of forcing a fundamental change to one of the web’s most entrenched tracking technologies, Chrome users will continue to manage cookie permissions through existing privacy and security settings, giving them control without dramatic changes.

A Slow Walk Back from a Bold Promise

When Google first announced the plan to eliminate third-party cookies, it shook the advertising world. Marketers, publishers, and tech platforms scrambled to prepare for what was being dubbed the "cookiepocalypse"—a seismic shift that promised to dismantle many established practices of user tracking, targeting, and personalization.

However, even after launching the Privacy Sandbox, a suite of APIs and tools designed to enable privacy-preserving ad targeting, Google struggled to rally unanimous support across the ecosystem. Repeated feedback from publishers, advertisers, regulators, and trade bodies revealed a deep schism in expectations.

As Chavez acknowledged, the debate remains far from settled. “It remains clear that there are divergent perspectives on making changes that could impact the availability of third-party cookies,” he said, emphasizing the complexity of driving change across such a wide range of stakeholders.

The decision to maintain third-party cookies comes after a series of delays. Originally targeting 2022, Google had pushed the timeline first to late 2023, then into 2024, citing the need for "more time" to get Privacy Sandbox technologies ready and widely adopted.

Now, with this latest pivot, no definitive end date exists—and for many in the industry, the uncertainty may itself be telling.

Privacy Sandbox: Still on the Agenda

Importantly, Google has made clear that its decision does not mean the Privacy Sandbox is being abandoned. Chavez confirmed that the company remains committed to “collaborate with the ecosystem to determine how the Privacy Sandbox APIs can best support a healthy, thriving web.”

Google plans to gather additional feedback and will share an updated roadmap for the Privacy Sandbox over the coming months. In other words, while third-party cookies are not going away immediately, the company still envisions a future where new technologies can enable user privacy without dismantling the digital advertising economy.

Key APIs within the Privacy Sandbox, such as the Topics API (which proposes a less invasive way to deliver interest-based ads) and the Protected Audience API (for on-device ad targeting), are still being tested. However, adoption across the industry has been slow and cautious.

What Comes Next?

While the decision to retain third-party cookies is immediate, the broader shift toward a more privacy-centric internet is unlikely to stall indefinitely. Google’s announcement buys time—but it does not stop the underlying forces of change.

Several major players, including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox, have already blocked third-party cookies by default, pushing advertisers toward contextual targeting, first-party data strategies, and alternative identity solutions.

Moreover, growing consumer awareness about data privacy is reshaping expectations around online tracking. Brands that fail to adapt to these sentiments risk losing trust—and market share.

For now, however, advertisers, publishers, and technology providers have a brief window of breathing room. The cookie may live on in Chrome, but the writing on the wall is clear: the future will demand new approaches, new technologies, and new thinking about how privacy and personalization coexist.

As Chavez summed up, Google's goal remains to support “a healthy, thriving web” that serves both consumers and the industries that depend on it.