In July, a single announcement from the Google Chrome team turned the $300 billion digital media industry upside down, turning the subsequent months into a tense waiting game for ad tech decision-makers.
For the uninitiated, Google’s July announcement was that, after years of uncertainty, it would retain third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. This shift from the tech giant’s initial plan to eliminate support completely for third-party cookies within Chrome upended almost half a decade of investment from ad tech companies.
Instead, Chrome will introduce features that allow users to make informed choices about cookie usage, which are adjustable at any time — just how this would look was/is TBD. Long story short, Google has absolved itself of the fate of third-party cookies; the decision to continue using cookies is now in the hands of Chrome users.
However, Google will continue to develop Privacy Sandbox APIs to enhance privacy and utility. Various teams within the Google ecosystem have moved to assure concerned parties that the company aims to balance user privacy with the needs of the ad-supported internet ecosystem — not to mention its profitability.
The complications involved in such a balancing act were laid bare in the Big Tech giant’s most recent antitrust trial, especially as some of the transcripts of its internal debates were made public. This sword of Damocles continues to hang over Google.
Of course, the mirror image of this is the waiting game currently being played by the online advertising ecosystem: everyone from marketers and publishers to the dozens, if not hundreds, of ad tech and martech providers.
Companies in the latter two categories of this cohort have spent the last half-decade collectively investing and raising millions of dollars to sustain a sector of the industry that has already experienced significant challenges after rival web browsers dropped support for third-party cookies.
However, since July, most in the sector have been in a holding pattern, deeming it necessary to have a firm grasp of what the cookie consent prompt within Google Chrome will look like and what the drop-off rates might be before they move forward.
Such concerns are now palpable, with several Digiday sources — all of whom requested anonymity in return for candor, demonstrating the high stakes at play here — voicing their anticipation that Google is in the final stages of formulating its cookie consent prompt for Chrome users.
One senior supply-side platform source told Digiday that such a prospect was widely discussed at an industry roundtable, and parties there were “fairly certain the Chrome team is finalizing the opt-in/out language this week.”
Such speculation was broached the same day (Nov. 11) as the U.K.’s Competition Markets Authority published its latest Privacy Sandbox report, which noted continued concerns that Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals could fall short of regulatory requirements.
The report went on to note that the U.K.’s consumer privacy watchdog, a.k.a. the ICO, “will monitor how the industry responds to Google’s revised approach to Privacy Sandbox and retains its independence to take regulatory action against all parties where non-compliance is identified, including by Google and organisations [sic] that use the Privacy Sandbox tools.”
The CMA’s mention of the ICO’s involvement demonstrates the limbo that many find themselves in as, technically, Google is not dropping support for third-party cookies; any Chrome-user who opts out of permitting their continued use is voicing their privacy preferences.
Hence, Google’s deliberations with such governmental entities — talks will continue into 2025, according to several sources — are of concern to the wider ecosystem. However, separate sources with knowledge of Google’s plans moved to quell concerns that its final decision was days away from completion.
When asked for clarity by Digiday, a Google spokesperson, said, “This approach, which lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, is still being discussed with regulators and we will share more details at the appropriate time.”
Paul Bannister, chief strategy officer at Raptive, told Digiday that Google had maintained its engagement with the wider industry since July but that many were waiting for greater clarity before they felt ready to make significant decisions.
“Since the July announcement, Google has remained active in its discussions with the rest of the industry, but everyone’s been waiting on what consent [proposals to Chrome users] looks like,” he said, “without that piece of information, there’s not been a tremendous amount of things to talk about.”
In the days after the CMA report, Google hosted a Privacy Sandbox roundtable in New York City, according to Digiday sources, with attendees hopeful that updates relayed at the two-day event would further help them prioritize plans for the months to come.
Speaking ahead of the event, a separate SSP source, who likewise requested anonymity, noted that Google has been purse-lipped about plans for its consent proposals within Chrome. However, they hoped to have greater clarity on how best to optimize their 2025 investment plans after the event.
Digiday could not source comment from any of the event attendees by press time, albeit it’s understood that part of the proceedings discussed Google’s latest Privacy Sandbox measurement proposals.
Speaking separately, Scott Cunningham, an industry consultant who works extensively with publishers, told Digiday anticipation around such developments has been more palpable from sell-side players, compared to those on the industry’s buy-side.
“They’ve been needling Google on when they are going to know these things,” he said, “because when Apple ripped the Band-Aid off [with its ATT update in 2022], publishers lost a lot of opportunity to monetize.”
However Google frames its prompt to Chrome users about tracking with third-party cookies, the lack of — or perceived lack — of viable alternatives from Google remains a sticking point for manu execs.
“I would like to see Topics, Attribution and Protected Audience APIs activated across all Chrome browsers months, if not a year before, any more cookies go away.,” said Mark McEachran, vp of product management at ad tech vendor Yieldmo. “If these are my future tools I need to develop against them and I need the wider coverage in order to get a return on that investment. As it stands today I cannot justify the expense with an ambiguous deprecation timeline and no General Availability of the Sandbox across web traffic.”