Google has announced further delays in the deprecation of third-party cookies and will not be moving forward until early 2025.
Given the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) list of “concerns”, the UK’s information Commissioner’s Office reservations and the IAB Tech Lab’s long list of industry’s unanswered questions, this pause seemed almost inevitable. Google’s statement alluded to the need for more time in market testing to help address the multi-stakeholder list of concerns as a driving force in the decision to hit pause stating “ We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June. Given both of these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4.”
The timeline is still somewhat vague, but more details will be provided for the phase out in their upcoming quarterly report due to be released on April 26th.
While we wait, IAB Canada strongly urges industry to continue forward in adopting a portfolio approach to addressability. Innovating to establish more privacy safe means of reaching audiences and measuring results is critical to our sectors success and now is not the time to lose momentum.
“Make no mistake, the need for alternative solutions to address audiences at scale is as pressing as ever,” said Sonia Carreno, President, IAB Canada, “this extra time should be put to good use with investments towards testing Privacy Sandbox solutions as well as the rich canvas of opportunities offered within contextual ad placements and clean room solutions”.
We remain committed to supporting our members through this critical transition while assisting in the orchestration of testing and learning on-the-ground.