Google has once again pushed its plans to deprecate third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome web browser as it works to address pending competition concerns from UK regulators over its Privacy Sandbox initiative.
The tech giant said it is working closely with Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and hopes to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
Under the new plan, the goal is to start phasing out third-party cookies early next year, making it the third such extension since the tech giant announced the plans in 2020, postponing them from start of 2022 to end of 2023, and again to next year. second half of 2024.
Privacy Sandbox refers to a series of initiatives that offer privacy-preserving alternatives to cookie tracking and cross-app identifiers in order to serve personalized ads to users.
Although Google has enabled the features for a subset of Chrome browser users since last year, the UK watchdog, along with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has been keeping a close eye on the rollout to ensure Privacy Sandbox benefits consumers and do not favor Google’s advertising technology.
Both Apple and Mozilla discontinued support for third-party cookies in 2020.
“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent industry, regulator, and developer feedback, and we will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem,” Google said in an update.
“It is also vital that the CMA has sufficient time to review all the evidence, including industry test results, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”
In a setback for Google, a draft ICO report revealed that the company’s proposed replacements have gaps that advertisers could exploit to identify users, effectively undermining privacy and anonymity goals, according to the Wall Last week’s Street Journal.
The development comes as Google said it is updating client-side encrypted (CSE) Google Meet calls to include support for inviting external participants, including those without a Google account.