In 2020, Google announced plans to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome by 2022—a move that would reshape the advertising and publishing landscape. 

However, after delaying the phase-out multiple times, Google recently announced they won’t be removing these cookies after all. 

But there’s more to this story. 

If you’ve spent the last four years developing strategies for tracking users without cookies, now isn’t the time to abandon them. Let’s take a closer look.

Google’s third-party cookie debacle

Third-party cookies are small data files that websites place on your device. They track your online activities, helping advertisers tailor ads that resonate with your preferences. They’re the reason you see ads for Brat Green hightops everywhere after you search for them on Amazon.

Despite their utility in targeted advertising, third-party cookies have long been scrutinized for privacy concerns. Google’s 2020 decision to eliminate third-party cookies came in response. It was expected to disrupt how publishers and advertisers collect detailed user data and personalize experiences. 

As such, many publishers started adopting a more website-centric approach. That meant acquiring first-party data and gathering user information directly, through newsletter registrations, paid subscriptions, and first-party analytics. This shift not only adhered to privacy norms but also built a foundation for direct, personalized interactions with users. 

But hang on. Just as teams started feeling confident adapting to a cookie-less future with those strategies, Google started pumping the brakes on the cookie phase-out.

Pushback about industry readiness and regulatory concerns over Google’s dominance in online advertising saw Google postpone the phase-out multiple times (the most recent deprecation date early 2025). 

Now, in July 2024, Google has done a complete about-face, announcing they won’t be deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome after all. 

But that’s not the end of this third-party cookie saga. Despite this news, publishers and advertisers are continuing to double down on their cookie-less targeting strategies. 

What’s next for third-party cookies in Chrome?

The pivotal detail in Google’s latest plan is this: Although cookies won’t be turned off in Chrome by default, users will be given the choice to opt out of third-party cookie tracking. Experts predict up to 80% of Chrome users will do so. 

Chrome already had an option to disable third-party cookies, but it’s buried deep in Settings. The change Google is making now looks more like the familiar “Ask App Not To Track” dialog in Apple’s iOS devices.

Giving users this option means that advertisers and publishers will lose the 360-degree view they once had into audience behavior. Some users will be cookied, but an increasing number will not. So teams must continue developing and refining cookie-free solutions. 

Google’s proposed solution is their Privacy Sandbox, a suite of cookie-free user-targeting alternatives. The Sandbox has evolved since Google’s 2020 cookie deprecation announcement, but the reception from publishers and advertisers has been mixed.

Around the same time they announced third-party cookies aren’t being deprecated, Google released results from tests run on the Sandbox from January to March 2024 that showed promising outcomes for ad performance. However, publishers and advertisers are concerned about Privacy Sandbox stability, citing outages that have caused significant revenue loss. 

Regardless of the efficacy of the Privacy Sandbox, teams are still beholden to it, along with any new platform changes Google introduces in the future.

Cookies or no cookies, publishers are making it work

Overreliance on third-party traffic acquisition or monetization strategies is a dangerous game. 

With Google’s reversal on the cookie decision, along with their recent Helpful Content Update and introduction of AI-generated search query answers, it’s more important than ever to be website-centric and self-reliant. Our advice: Keep finding ways to rely less heavily on third-party platforms to acquire, engage, and monetize your audience.

Knowing that a significant portion of users will opt out of third-party cookies in Chrome, and that Safari and Firefox have had them turned off by default since 2020, many WordPress VIP media clients are operating as if nothing has changed. They’re developing subscription models, leveraging newsletters, collecting first-party analytics data, and operating with a website-centric mindset.

As always, the most successful publishers are building their own relationships with audiences, rather than depending on third parties to supply data about them or generate revenue around them. 

On a recent podcast with Harvard Business Review, Jamie Seltzer, Global Executive VP at Havas Media Network, echoed this strategy of website-centricity and loyalty-building: 

“Without a third-party cookie, it forces us to step back and think about what are the best media experiences for our consumers that help not just sell a product, but help build loyalty and brand love and the things that we sort of forgot about when we went straight for performance and kind of forgot about brand a little bit.” 

Own your audience, build for the future

Your website is what only you can control—double down on that to make sure it’s performant and engaging. And set up good first-party analytics to track and optimize for your owned audience. 

Here are five things you can do now to start owning your audience and building for the future:

1. Improve website performance. One in two users will abandon a site if it takes longer than four seconds to load, and a one-second delay results in a 16% drop in user satisfaction. If you want an engaged, loyal, and monetized audience, build a website that performs like a digital superhero.
2. Create personalized content experiences on-site to increase loyalty and recirculation. Once you get a user on your site, make sure they see what they want and stick around. Serve them the most relevant, engaging content based on what they’re interested in and what performs best.
3. Optimize for omnichannel engagement with loyalty metrics and real-time data. Understand what content and which channels drive return visits from your audience. Serve them the right content in the right place, at the right time. 
4. Fine-tune your content strategy with audience segmentation. Understand what content matters to your subscribers vs. non-subscribers or registered vs. unregistered users. Identify what inspires users to register for your newsletter or sign up for a paid subscription. Again, serve them the right content at the right time. 
5. Get your whole team pulling in the same direction by analyzing and acting upon content insights. Make content analytics a team sport and rally around shared business goals.

This ongoing cookie saga highlights the dynamic nature of the publishing and advertising industry. Platform shifts can completely redefine market operations and standards. Even though ‌third-party cookies remain (for now), the shift toward more sustainable and privacy-compliant methods of data collection is irreversible. 

Google’s back-and-forth on third-party cookies reminds us to be self-reliant. As we move forward, we must continue to innovate and adapt to data privacy changes, ensuring that our strategies align with both business goals and privacy standards.