June 24, 2021- 11:15 a.m.
Google announced Thursday it would delay its plan to scrap a widely used technology to track web-browsing habits, bending to resistance and scrutiny from the advertising industry, privacy advocates and regulators.
Under the new timeline, the Alphabet Inc. unit said its Chrome internet browser will stop supporting a user-tracking technology called third-party cookies by late 2023, nearly two years later than its initial time frame of early 2022. Google had announced the removal of cookies, which many companies in the advertising sector use to track individuals’ and target ads, under pressure from privacy regulators and advocates.
Google said the delay will give it more time to get publishers, the ad industry and regulators comfortable with the new technologies it is developing and testing to enable targeted ads in cookies’ wake.
“While there’s considerable progress with this initiative, it’s become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right,” Google said.
