Google has changed course — yet again — on its plans for third-party cookies, announcing that it will continue to offer the tracking technology in Chrome, rather than developing a standalone mechanism around their usage, as previously planned. For marketers, the news is mixed, potentially addressing issues around reach in a fragmented media landscape while also lighting a fire under internal plans to safeguard customer data.

The latest move appears to put the final nail in the coffin for cookie deprecation while possibly teeing up a future in which Google has offloaded Chrome due to regulatory pressures. Many factors were behind the shift, per a company blog post, including feedback from publishers, developers, regulators and the advertising industry about its Privacy Sandbox proposals, the cookie alternative initiative it launched in 2019. A Google executive expanded on the thinking behind the decision when asked for comment at the IAB’s Public Policy & Legal Summit on Tuesday (April 22).

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