Google's Crackdown on Cookies Google finally began its long-expected exercise of phasing out third-party cookies in 2024 with plans in place to eliminate them completely for Chrome users by Q3. Cookies are text files stored on a user's device by websites. Third-parties often use cookies to track users' site visits and activities both on their site and across the web, for the purpose of delivering targeted ads and other personalized content. As concerns about digital privacy have grown in recent years, cookies have become a controversial mechanism that are now being phased out in favor of new, privacy-centric systems. The tech giant leads search advertising and this fundamental shift is expected to send ripples across industries as organizations align advertising channels with changing regulations. Still, advertisers haven’t adopted new channels — estimates show cookies were used for 78% or more of programmatic ad buys across industries as late as Q3 2023, with many advertisers are increasing their cookie ad spend. In preparation for upcoming changes, Google began rolling out the first step of its new tracking solution, dubbed “Privacy Sandbox,” in July of last year — to mixed reviews. Other post-cookie solutions are only just hitting the market, leaving advertisers without much room to adapt. There is speculation that this might cause Google to delay the process yet again. Either way, we expect this shift to inspire heavy investment in AdTech and data security systems as well as to shift ad spend
and personalization tactics. Source: Forbes, eMarketer. 33Across
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