In a twist that’s bound to shake up the ad tech world (again), Google has hit pause on its plan to introduce a standalone third-party cookie prompt in Chrome. That means, for now, advertisers and ad tech platforms will continue to access third-party cookies in the world’s most popular browser.
“We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome,” wrote Anthony Chavez, VP of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, in a blog post on April 22. “Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.”
It’s a quiet but significant U-turn from what the Chrome team outlined just last year, a change that was supposed to accelerate the demise of cookies and push the industry toward Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox tools. Now, those plans are very much in limbo.
What’s Actually Changing?
Short answer: nothing yet. Third-party cookies will continue functioning in Chrome as they do today. Google will not introduce a dedicated cookie consent prompt as it previously planned. Instead, users will still manage cookies from the existing Privacy & Security Settings menu.
The move, according to Google, was driven by “divergent perspectives” across the industry, in other words, not everyone’s on the same page about how or when to pull the plug on cookies without breaking digital advertising as we know it.
Privacy Sandbox: Still Alive, Just… Stalled?
This doesn’t mean Google is abandoning its Privacy Sandbox initiative altogether. Some components, like IP Protection for Incognito Mode, are still on track and expected to roll out in Q3 2025. But the core idea, a set of APIs to replace cookies with more privacy-friendly targeting, is clearly struggling to gain traction.
“In light of this update, we understand that the Privacy Sandbox APIs may have a different role to play in supporting the ecosystem,” Chavez said, promising an updated roadmap in the coming months.
Still, many in ad tech aren’t exactly holding their breath.
Why Ad Tech Isn’t Sold Yet
Despite years of collaboration and testing, many ad tech players say the Sandbox just isn’t ready for prime time:
Scalability issues: The system’s current 1:1 design doesn’t align well with the multi-party nature of programmatic advertising.
Attribution challenges: Tech feedback has pointed to difficulties with accurate tracking, especially in real-time bidding environments.
Publisher hesitation: Many publishers remain focused on revenue from header bidding, which still relies on third-party cookies. Latency and limited video support in the Sandbox also don’t help.
Sandbox experimentation has slowed, with some early adopters now reluctant to invest further without clearer gains.
Industry Fatigue?
Google’s cookie deprecation timeline has already been pushed back multiple times, and this latest move reinforces what many in the industry have come to expect: “It will happen when it happens” is the new normal.
Meanwhile, competitors like Apple (Safari) and Mozilla (Firefox) continue to restrict cookies more aggressively, and regulators, particularly in the UK and EU, are still watching closely.
So where does this leave us? With cookies still alive, a Sandbox in flux, and an ecosystem trying to read between the lines of every Google update.
Closing
Google’s latest move doesn’t just delay change, it reflects how complicated, divided, and cautious the path forward really is. While Privacy Sandbox is still technically on the roadmap, the industry’s confidence is wobbling, and cookies aren’t going anywhere in the short term.
For now, marketers, publishers, and developers are once again left navigating a familiar state: wait and see.
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