Google announced on Tuesday that it will no longer offer standalone prompts for third-party cookies in Chrome browsers as part of its privacy sandbox initiative.
“We’re committed to providing a range of services to our customers,” said Anthony Chavez, vice president of privacy sandboxes at Google.
“Users can continue to select the best option for themselves in Chrome’s privacy and security settings.”
In July 2024, Tech Giant said it had abandoned its plans to condemn third-party tracking cookies, and instead intends to roll out a new experience that allows users to make informed choices.
Google said feedback from publishers, developers, regulators and the advertising industry has revealed a “diverse perspective” in making changes that could affect the availability of third-party cookies.
Instead, Tech Behemoth said it will continue to invest in enhancing tracking protection in Chrome’s Incognito mode, which blocks third-party cookies by default. We also plan to introduce new IP protection features in the third quarter of 2025.
Already available as an open source project, this feature aims to limit the availability of a user’s original IP address in a third-party context in Incognito mode to prevent cross-site tracking.
“In light of this update, we understand that the privacy sandbox API may play a different role in supporting the ecosystem,” Chavez said. “We will engage with the industry, gather feedback and share the latest roadmap for these technologies, including future investment areas in the coming months.”
Note that Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox have blocked third-party cookies by default since 2020, but Google is struggling to deploy similar protections due to competing interests as browser vendors, advertising platforms, and search engines.
The development comes as Google faces intense regulatory scrutiny in the US in recent months, accusing two different rulings of maintaining monopoly in the search and advertising market.
The US Department of Justice, like last month, proposed disbanding Google by selling its Chrome web browser and forcing it to syndicate search results as a way to recover competition for the online search market.
AI Company Openai said it would be interested in buying a browser if Google is forced to sell it, saying “AI-First will show Bloomberg and Reuters what “AI-First” looks like.”
