Google has delayed plans to remove third-party cookies from Chrome browser until 2023. This is one year later than originally planned, Google stated in a blog post.According to the tech giant, there has been "considerable progress" in the initiative but the company needs more time from "all the ecosystem" to achieve its goals.This initiative is part the company's Privacy Sandbox bundled project, which also includes many proposals for Chrome and Google.Google stated that the Privacy Sandbox initiative "aims to create web technologies to protect users' privacy online and give developers and companies the tools to build thriving digital business to keep the internet open and accessible for everyone, now and in the future." We must move at a responsible speed in order to achieve this.The goal was to have key technologies available by the end of 2022 so that developers can start adopting them. Subject to engagement with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, Chrome could then gradually phase out third-party cookies over a three-month period, beginning in mid-2023 and ending late 2023.The company's "Federated Learning of Cohorts," or FLoC, includes the phasing-out of third-party cookies. Google claims the initiative will help users keep their privacy and give advertisers comparable results to third party cookies. FLoC will group users based on browsing patterns, instead of using individual IDs for tracking and identifying users. Google states that individual users can be identified within one cohort and are not distinguishable from each other. Third-party cookies can be used for everything, from audience segmentation and collection to ad targeting and personalization and granular attribution measurement.Many people in the industry don't believe that this technology is the best way to replace cookies. Many of the top Android browsers manufacturers have blocked the technology before and have since reaffirmed these positions. Amazon recently blocked FLoC from its brand pages, making it harder for Google to create these tracking cohorts at some of the most popular destinations on the internet.Google first announced its intention to do this. An analyst blog post by Forrester stated that Google was "trying to build its reputation as privacy-friendly, in the face of many competition from other browsers."Its demand-side platform, the ad exchange and other demand and supply-side tools will suffer, as they will have fewer marketer and publisher use-cases. The blog post stated that Google considers the downside to be worth it. "Google is looking at the long-term sustainability of the company and its business growth," said the blogger.Other browsers, such as Apple's Safari or Firefox, have implemented similar blocking mechanisms against third-party tracking cookies.
