Google Delays Chrome’s Cookie-Blocking Plan By 2 Years

Google delayed its plan to scrap a widely used technology to track web-browsing habits amid regulatory scrutiny and concern from privacy advocates and the advertising industry over the search giant’s approach to replacing the tool.

On Thursday, June 24, the Alphabet unit stated its Chrome internet browser will stop supporting a user-tracking technology called third-party cookies by late 2023, nearly two years later than its initial time frame of early 2022. Google had announced the removal of cookies, which many companies in the advertising sector use to track individuals’ and target ads, under pressure from privacy regulators and advocates.

Google stated the delay will give it more time to get publishers, the ad industry, and regulators comfortable with the new technologies it is developing and testing to enable targeted ads in cookies’ wake.

“While there’s considerable progress with this initiative, it’s become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right,” Google stated.

The company’s plan to remove cookies is facing an array of regulatory scrutiny and complaints from privacy advocates who said it wasn’t going far enough to protect users’ data. Competitors said the search giant was using privacy concerns as a pretext to box them out of online advertising.

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