Google has some good news for Cookie Monster

On Monday, the tech giant announced it won’t be phasing out the use of cookies on its Chrome browser after all.

• For those unfamiliar, browser cookies are a piece of tech that logs the activity of internet users across websites, allowing advertisers to serve them more targeted and relevant ads. Consumer advocates argue cookies invade user privacy because they can be used to compile detailed profiles that include sensitive information, such as a person’s medical history.

The best-laid plans…

Google’s broad idea to replace cookies, called Privacy Sandbox, was to relay anonymized browsing data to advertisers so they can then target specific user cohorts.

However, rather than phasing out cookies (which it’s promised to do since 2019), the tech giant now says it will “introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing” (though details are sparse as to what this actually means).

In the know: In a blog post announcing the change, Google implies it’s keeping cookies because the replacement “requires significant work by many participants and will have an impact on publishers, advertisers, and everyone involved in online advertising” (though regulation was also likely an issue).

Some more subtext: Removing cookies results in less-personalized targeting data, which could lead to lower-performing ads – which in turn lowers ad prices, hurting Google-parent Alphabet (which generates ~78% of its $307 billion in annual revenue from advertising). Both Firefox and Safari saw lower ad prices after restricting cookies.

+Dive deeper: How the $600 billion/year online advertising industry is responding to Google’s announcement.