The clock is ticking.
By now, you’ve probably heard that Chrome plans to deprecate third-party cookies early next year, subject to oversight by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. If you’re a digital marketer who relies on third-party cookies, this change requires immediate action by you and your organization. Every day you choose not to take action puts your digital marketing campaigns at risk of losing effectiveness and measurability.
If you don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. This is an uncertain time that raises urgent questions for all of us. We built this hub to equip you with the answers and guidance you’ll need to prepare for — and succeed in — a future without third-party cookies. It’ll take work, but the payoff will be worth it.
Below, you’ll find guidance for practitioners, along with answers to your most-asked questions, and examples of durable marketing strategies in action.
We’ll update this page regularly with the latest information, so be sure to bookmark it as a go-to resource.
Implementation guide for practitioners
If you’re a marketing practitioner, you’re likely focused on implementing an approach that will withstand third-party cookie deprecation. We’ll break these steps down for you here.
Our privacy readiness guide dives deep into the AI Essentials and walks you through critical actions to protect your performance today. It consists of three key steps:
- Step 1: Build a durable ads infrastructure by implementing sitewide tagging, enhanced conversions, and more.
- Step 2: Measure and attribute your conversions accurately with Google Analytics 4 and other measurement tools.
- Step 3: Engage with relevant customers by adopting Customer Match and optimized targeting, and by using Performance Max.
As you dive in, it’s important to keep in mind that there’s no one-to-one replacement for third-party cookies. Your solution set will leverage several sources, including Google AI, consented first-party data, and privacy-preserving technologies like the Privacy Sandbox. Marketers are already putting this comprehensive strategy to work. The sooner you do, the more prepared you’ll be for a future without third-party cookies.
Frequently asked questions
Still unsure about what to expect and prepare for in the coming months? Below, we’ve answered common questions we’re hearing from advertisers.
- When will Chrome deprecate third-party cookies? Chrome plans to begin gradually phasing out support for third-party cookies in early 2025, subject to oversight by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. Explore Chrome’s timeline to learn more.
- Should advertisers implement the Privacy Sandbox APIs? No, advertisers should not need to directly integrate with the Privacy Sandbox APIs. Google’s ads teams will be doing the heavy lifting of building APIs into our existing solutions, and we’ll gradually ramp up the Privacy Sandbox signals within our audience and measurement offerings as third-party cookies are deprecated. That means the campaign management experience should not change substantially for advertisers.
- How will Google’s ads platforms power measurement and audience solutions without third-party cookies? As noted above, there is no one-to-one replacement for third–party cookies. Our ads platforms have a privacy-centric approach for marketers based on embracing three pillars: first-party data, AI, and privacy-preserving technologies, including those from the Privacy Sandbox. We will use a combination of signals derived from these pillars to power measurement and audience engagement solutions.
- Will advertisers still have access to frequency management capabilities in Google Ads and Display & Video 360? Yes. Google Ads and Display & Video 360 will check whether there are available Publisher-Provided IDs, Exchange-Provided IDs, or Identifiers For Advertising and use them to apply frequency caps in environments where third-party cookies are not available. Display & Video 360 also uses AI-powered modeling to support cross-channel frequency management when identifiers are not present.
- Will advertisers still be able to do audience exclusions in Google Ads and Display & Video 360? Chrome confirmed delivery of support in the Privacy Sandbox for negative interest group targeting in Q3 2023. As such, Google Ads and Display & Video 360 can support negative targeting, or exclusion, of audience lists. Advertisers will be able to exclude specific audience lists from remarketing campaigns, and will also be able to exclude them from other Display ads campaigns (for example, campaigns using affinity or in-market audiences).
- Will advertisers still be able to leverage brand safety controls in Google Ads and Display & Video 360? Advertisers will continue to have access to a range of brand safety levers on our platforms.
- Google Ads advertisers will be able to continue leveraging content type, digital content labels, sensitive content, and three-tier exclusions as brand safety measures.
- A variety of brand safety solutions can be supported post-third-party cookie deprecation on Display & Video 360 as well. These range from pre-bid solutions using signals from bid requests to post-bid brand safety creative wrappers using ad tech vendor solutions.
- For post-bid brand safety solutions, Chrome has recently confirmed delivery of a Protected Audience API (part of the Privacy Sandbox) feature that allows signals to be passed to these creative wrappers. This will allow Display & Video 360 to support these solutions post-third-party cookie deprecation.
For more information on other critical advertising use cases, consult the Google Ads Help Center.
Durable growth in action
Marketers who get ahead of third-party cookie deprecation tend to stay ahead. To inspire your organization’s shift, here are additional resources and success stories from marketers putting privacy-centric advertising strategies to work.
- Learn from Jason Hartley, head of media innovation and trust at digital advertising agency PMG, how he and his teams are empowering advertisers to prepare in this pivotal year.
- Discover The North Face’s approach to sitewide tagging, which uses Google Tag Manager to capture the full spectrum of consumer behavior, turn those signals into insights, and then measure the behavior.
- Explore how Kia connects and activates its first-party data with tools like Google Analytics and Customer Match.
