Google delays post-cookie plan again amid pressure from ad tech industry

Google is pushing back its cookie deprecation plans yet again after running into hurdles testing programmatic ad markets without cookies, the company revealed on Tuesday. Google said its work with U.K. regulators forced it to stall its ad tech overhaul despite hopes to shut down cookies on the Chrome web browser by the end of this year, a timeline that it already has postponed as it tried to work out new systems for running online ads. In January, Google started a countdown clock on cookies by shutting off 1% of them on the traffic it receives on Chrome, the browser with the highest market share worldwide. Google has been testing what it calls Privacy Sandbox, a way for ad tech vendors, publishers and advertisers to run ad auctions without sharing personal data about consumers. Privacy Sandbox envisioned a completely restructured ad tech marketplace, where all the auctions ran inside Chrome, and some feared the change would give Google too much power in the space. Google’s decision to push back the Privacy Sandbox timeline will not affect the test of 1% of cookieless traffic on Chrome right now, a person familiar with the situation told Ad Age. Also read: Advertiser concerns with Privacy Sandbox The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority has been overseeing the transition away from cookies and is the ultimate arbiter on whether Google can proceed. Google’s quarterly update Tuesday on how its work is being received by U.K. regulators showed it’s off track. “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,” Google announced. “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.” Google declined to comment further for this story, but there have been signs about troubles with its program. Google wants to alter how ad tech vendors operate when on its browser, mobile devices and Android software, but the changes have forced companies that rely on digital advertising to adjust their own businesses, and the changes can cost a lot of money, according to ad tech developers. Google did have a program that subsidizes some of the costs. Google Chrome represents more than 60% of the global browser market, making it a powerful force in digital advertising. Google also has its own ad tech platform, and there were concerns that Chrome changes could advantage its ad business while harming online businesses and ad tech rivals. Advertisers were also concerned about what the cookie changes could mean for the ability to target and measure ads online. Also read: Ad targeting may be banned Google, however, wanted to proceed to ditch cookies and other invasive tracking tactics, partly because of consumer expectations of privacy. Apple started hobbling cookies and other forms of tracking in 2017, and its iPhone is now a veritable locked box of data. Apple’s privacy push forced ad tech companies to develop new ad IDs and contextual advertising products to make up for the loss of granular data from Apple. Some in the ad tech community have been struggling to adjust to Google’s Privacy Sandbox. In February, the IAB, the internet ad trade group, told Google the industry needed more time. There have been ongoing concerns that the testing phase was too short, and the scale of the tests so far did not present a large enough sample to truly understand Privacy Sandbox. In its report in February, IAB noted there were issues with serving different ad formats inside Privacy Sandbox, especially video. “We remain committed to engaging closely with the CMA and ICO and we hope to conclude that process this year,” Google said in its announcement. “Assuming we can reach an agreement, we envision proceeding with third-party cookie deprecation starting early next year.”

Google delays post-cookie plan again amid pressure from ad tech industry

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