Third-Party Cookies Didn't Die
Google retired the Privacy Sandbox in October 2025 and kept third-party cookies in Chrome. The deprecation that dominated a decade of planning never happened — but first-party data still won.
Updated July 2026.
Third-party cookies did not die. After repeatedly delaying deprecation, Google retired the Privacy Sandbox initiative in October 2025 and kept third-party cookies in Chrome. The decade of "cookiepocalypse" planning ended not with removal but with a reversal — though the strategic shift toward first-party data it triggered has stuck.
What actually happened to third-party cookies?
Google announced in 2020 it would phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, then delayed the deadline several times. In 2025 it changed course entirely: rather than force deprecation or a user opt-in prompt, it wound down the Privacy Sandbox effort and left cookies in place. Chrome — used by the majority of global internet users — still supports them today.
So was all the preparation wasted?
No. The threat pushed marketers to build durable first-party data foundations, and those investments pay off regardless of the cookie’s survival. First-party data is more accurate, more privacy-resilient, and less dependent on any single browser’s policy. The teams that prepared are better positioned; the cookie simply bought them time.
What should marketers do now?
| Priority | Why it still matters |
|---|---|
| Keep investing in first-party data | Accuracy and resilience independent of browser policy |
| Maintain Consent Mode v2 | Unchanged since March 2024; still required for EU measurement |
| Lean on server-side measurement (CAPI) | Reduces reliance on browser-set identifiers |
| Don’t rebuild around cookies | Their reprieve is a policy decision that could change again |
Sources: Google Privacy Sandbox wind-down, October 2025; Consent Mode v2 (unchanged since March 2024).
FAQ
Are third-party cookies still available in Chrome in 2026?
Yes. Google retired the Privacy Sandbox in October 2025 and kept third-party cookies in Chrome, with no active deprecation timeline.
Should I stop investing in first-party data?
No. First-party data remains more accurate and more resilient than third-party identifiers, and it does not depend on a browser policy that has already reversed once.