Privacy Sandbox to maintain current approach to third-party cookies

In a blog posted yesterday (22 April 2025), Privacy Sandbox’s VP Anthony Chavez said that third-party cookies will remain on Chrome. He explained: “As we’ve engaged with the ecosystem, including publishers, developers, regulators, and the ad industry, it remains clear that there are divergent perspectives on making changes that could impact the availability of third-party cookies.”

Last year, Privacy Sandbox dropped the deprecation for third-party cookies and said that it was exploring a new approach “that elevates user choice”. However, in the most recent post, Chavez states: “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. Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.”

Chavez also acknowledges that Privacy Sandbox APIs may now have a different role to play in supporting the ecosystem and says that the team will be engaging with the industry to gather feedback and share an updated roadmap for the technologies, including future areas of investment, across the coming months.

Commenting on the news, Chloe Nicholls, Head of Ad Tech at IAB UK, said: “Privacy Sandbox’s news that third-party cookies won’t be subject to opt-in choice on Chrome does bring welcome clarity to the wider digital ad industry, which has been navigating uncertainty since the phase out of third-party cookies on the browser was first announced. 

“While this update is a significant step-change, it doesn’t mean that we’re back at square one. Third-party cookies will continue to play a role in the digital ecosystem, but they’re no longer the universal identifier they once were and marketers should continue to utilise a range of methods – from first-party data to contextual tools – to effectively deliver reach across environments. There has been a huge amount of work on alternative targeting and measurement strategies over the past six years and it’s important to stress that privacy-preserving tactics are the way forward.”

We will be continuing to support IAB members to navigate the use of alternative targeting and measurement strategies. You can find more information here and please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.