Google Chrome won’t kill cookies after all

Summary

• Google has given up on eliminating third-party cookies, shifting focus to user-controlled privacy features in Chrome.
• The brand will still aim to reduce cross-site tracking, while also adding IP Protection in Incognito mode for user privacy.
• Despite the change in plans, Google may revisit eliminating third-party cookies in the future, but it’s hard to say when.

It turns out that eliminating third-party cookies is not so easy after all. If you’ve been following this news, you’ll know that Google’s quest to eliminate third-party cookies from its browser has been dragging on for some time. The company has repeatedly pushed back its decision in order to get things right, and now, things have finally come to an end. Surprisingly, Google is finally throwing in the towel on this mission and doing a complete 180 from its initial plans, which means, cookies are here to stay.

Google announced this through its own The Privacy Sandbox blog, sharing that while there’s been significant work towards deprecating third-party cookies, there are simply too many involved that it would impact to make it a viable option. Instead, the brand is introducing something new, giving users the ability to make an “informed choice” about their web browsing experience (via 9to5Google).

Google pivots to accommodate all involved

Despite this news, Google is still going to keep working on its Privacy Sandbox, which means, you’re still going to keep hearing about it as things advance. With that said, one of the original goals of the Privacy Sandbox was to replace third-party cookies with something new. And since that’s not happening now, we have to wonder when exactly this will eventually move forward.

With that said, Google does seem intent on reducing cross-site tracking, which is a plus for users. But things are a bit murky regarding the future of Privacy Sandbox. However, as part of this new pivot, the brand seems intent on adding new privacy control features in Chrome, along with enabling IP Protection for those using the browser’s Incognito feature. So going forward, users will have their IP protected when visiting a website, and traffic between the user and the website will not be easily available for tracking.

As you can imagine, a move this big is a huge blow, especially for all involved, as this wasn’t just something that was proposed overnight, and instead was a journey that took four years just to get to where we are now. So, while third-party cookies will be a part of our browsing future going forward, there’s always the possibility that Google could get this thing back on track, and we’ll no doubt hear about it.

But for now, it’s back to using the internet like we always have, and if you’re concerned about privacy in any way, it may be a good time to invest in VPN.