Google revealed its bold strategy to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome at the beginning of 2020. Surpassing a series of postponements and intricate challenges, the tech company is now on the verge of rolling out the inaugural stage of this plan.
With the release of Chrome 115 on July 18th to its users, Google has now disclosed its intention to progressively roll out a series of Privacy Sandbox tools to the Chrome developer community. These toolsets will serve as a replacement for the third-party tracker cookies, aiming at ramping up privacy measures for users.
While Google’s complete vision to render browsing free from third-party cookies is yet to come to fruition, the Privacy Sandbox represents an essential step in this direction. The upcoming week will witness the introduction of the API to a handful of Chrome developers, marking the onset of this new era. Subsequent to initial testing and refinements, the technology will be made more widely available.
Google’s initial timelines suggested that it would bid farewell to third-party cookies by the close of 2023. Nonetheless, a series of deferrals and regulatory scrutiny pushed back its schedule. After navigating through the turbulent waters, particularly with the clearing from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2022, Google is optimistic that it can fully transition away from third-party cookies by the third quarter of 2024, if all goes according to plan.
