- RIP: Privacy Sandbox, 2019-2025-Google confirms that it doesn’t go ahead with plans
- Third-party cookies continue but incognito mode offers improved protection
- Some tech that topics API will continue to be used
Google scales back his privacy Sandbox project, which was originally aimed at phasing out third-party cookies, after six years of hard work and its reasonable proportion of delays.
Launched in 2019 to tackle the concerns of privacy and to meet regulatory standards without influencing advertisers’ ability to target specific users, we now know that Google will not phase out third-party cookies.
In a blog post confirming the downfall of Privacy Sandbox, Google’s Anthony Chavez publishers, developers, regulators and the ADS industry accused as well as a changing landscape and increased control of regulatory bodies.
Google has pulled the plug on privacy sandbox
“Taking into account all these factors, we have made the decision to preserve our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choices in Chrome and will not roll a new free prompt for third-party cookies,” Chavez confirmed.
Although Google will continue to support cookies in Chrome, the company has promised to “improve the tracking protection” in incognito mode already blocking third-party cookies.
However, some technologies remain in development or use, including IP address protection in Incognito mode, which is scheduled for 3rd quarter of 2025 and topics API that allows interest-based advertising without sharing full browser history.
Google is now required to collaborate with the industry to gather feedback to inform an updated roadmap for the technologies it has already developed. “In light of this update, we understand that the APIs for privacy sandbox may have a different role to play in supporting the ecosystem,” Chavez said.
Private Lawyers have claimed that Google undermined its own privacy demands and noticed that privacy came in second to monitor how many users tried to switch to alternative browsers like Firefox.
Movement for an open web also paid tribute to the message as the end of Google’s attempt to monopolize digital advertising standards.
