After years of announcements, postponements, and industry-wide preparation for the cookiepocalypse, Google has made a surprising pivot: third-party cookies will remain in Chrome, and the planned standalone choice screens will not be implemented. This decision represents a significant shift in proposed changes to the digital advertising landscape that many marketers have been preparing for since 2020.
The long road to nowhere
When Google first announced its plans to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome in early 2020, it sent ripples through the advertising ecosystem. With Chrome commanding roughly 65% of global browser market share, the impact promised to be huge. The deadline was repeatedly extended (from 2022 to 2023, then to 2024, and beyond) as Google tested alternative solutions through its Privacy Sandbox initiative.
During this period of uncertainty, advertisers and publishers invested heavily in alternative targeting and measurement strategies, preparing for what seemed like an inevitable cookie-less future.
Implications of the U-turn
At MTM we’ve spent a lot of time researching the ways in which advertisers and developers have been adapting to this future. For those who pivoted their strategies in anticipation of the change, the reversal creates an interesting dynamic…
- First-party data investments remain valuable
Companies that built robust first-party data collection systems and consent management platforms have not wasted their efforts. These investments provide reliable and privacy-compliant data that will remain valuable regardless of the cookie situation. First-party data strategies offer greater control and typically deliver higher performance than third-party alternatives. Publishers and advertisers also benefit from the ability to track audiences across platforms e.g. from web to mobile or in-store.
- Identity solutions still have a place
Businesses that integrated with identity solutions like LiveRamp, The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0, or other identity frameworks now have dual capabilities. These solutions were designed to work in a cookie-less environment but can also complement cookie-based targeting for enhanced accuracy, efficiency and reach, as well as extending cross-platform tracking and reporting into other media channels such as CTV or DOOH.
- Contextual advertising plays a supporting role
Many advertisers who shifted budgets toward contextual targeting approaches (including Google’s own Topics API) can now use these as complementary strategies rather than replacements. Contextual targeting has improved dramatically in recent years and provides an important privacy-friendly layer to broader targeting efforts.
The new advertising playbook
Google’s reversal on choice screens provides advertisers with more options rather than fewer, suggesting that a hybrid approach will be the norm for the foreseeable future:
- Maintain dual-track capabilities that work both with and without third-party cookies.
- Continue first-party data growth as the most sustainable long-term strategy.
- Use the reprieve on third-party cookie deprecation to test and refine targeting approaches, and newer tools and metrics from contextual to attention.
- Remain adaptable as regulatory pressure and consumer preferences continue to evolve.
Looking forward (this isn’t over)
While cookies have received another stay of execution in Chrome, the broader trajectory toward greater privacy protection continues. Regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and their global counterparts are expanding. Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox already block third-party cookies by default and iOS implemented its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework back in 2021, requiring apps to ask users for permission to track their activity.
In addition, while Chrome is the dominant browser with 50%+ market share, only two-thirds of its audience is currently addressable due to privacy settings and incognito browsing. This means that advertisers have been missing a large proportion of the addressable market on the open web (perhaps 70% according to ExchangeWire).
Given these facts, savvy marketers should view Google’s latest announcement as a reprieve, not a permanent solution. The investments made in preparing for a cookie-less future are still likely to pay dividends in the long term, as the advertising ecosystem continues its gradual shift toward more privacy-centric approaches.
Advertisers would be wise to use the move away from standalone choice screens to refine their strategies, test different approaches and build systems that can thrive with or without third-party cookies. While the status quo remains, there is an ongoing opportunity to identify and test solutions that put consumer privacy first, while at the same time delivering measurable and meaningful performance.
In digital advertising, flexibility and adaptability remain the most valuable currencies of all.