Google is keeping cookies in Chrome

After years of threatening to remove third-party cookies, Google today announced that it is keeping them in Chrome.

“We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” wrote Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox at Google, in a blog post today. “Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.

In July, Google announced that it was pausing plans to end use of the trackers. That happened after advertisers pointed out that getting rid of cookies would make them dependent on Google’s user data to personalize ads. 

Today’s announcement comes after the Justice Department asked the Google search antitrust trial judge to spin off Chrome from Google.

Some marketers are already blasting the move.

“At a time when consumers are more aware than ever of how they’re tracked online, doubling down on cookies sends the wrong message,” said Adam Schenkel, EVP of global platform strategy and operations at GumGum. “Brands should take this as a wake-up call to diversify their ad strategies now before audience trust erodes further.”

Resources invested

There’s little doubt Google was serious about getting rid of cookies. The company invested considerable resources in anticipation of their disappearance. Most notably, it replaced its Universal Analytics program, which depends on cookies, with Google Analytics 4, which does not.

Depending on your level of cynicism, the news was either shocking or long-expected. 

The day before the announcement, Bradley Keefer, CRO of Keen Decision Systems, said he expected the company to say something about cookies to distract from its latest antitrust loss. 

“You’re going to see Google bring back cookie deprecation,” he said. “That’s their favorite PR thing from the last five years.”

Dig deeper: It’s time to re-think our rejection of third-party cookies