Google has officially ended its Privacy Sandbox initiative, which was developed as a future replacement for third-party cookies. In an update on the project’s website, Google Vice President Anthony Chavez announced the company was sunsetting the program’s remaining technologies.
The company first launched Privacy Sandbox in 2019, proposing it as a set of open standards that would enable personalized advertising without divulging identifying user data. The initiative was positioned as the eventual successor to third-party cookies, which are widely used to track user activity across different websites for ad-targeting purposes. The project’s goal was to enhance user privacy on the web while still supporting a publisher-funded ecosystem through advertising.
Throughout its development, Google’s plans to deprecate third-party cookies were repeatedly pushed back due to a series of delays and regulatory hurdles. The initiative drew significant scrutiny from government agencies. Both the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the United States Department of Justice launched investigations into the Privacy Sandbox. These inquiries were prompted by concerns that the new system could potentially harm smaller advertisers and consolidate Google’s control over the digital advertising market.
In early 2024, Google reversed its course on eliminating third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. Instead, the company announced a plan to roll out “a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing.” By April, Google confirmed it would not make any changes to how third-party cookies function, stating it would “maintain [its] current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome.” At that time, the company asserted that the Privacy Sandbox initiative would continue, a position that has now changed.
The latest update from Chavez cited “low levels of adoption” as the reason for ending the project. A Google spokesperson confirmed to AdWeek that the entire initiative is being retired, stating, “We will be continuing our work to improve privacy across Chrome, Android and the web, but moving away from the Privacy Sandbox branding.” The spokesperson added, “We’re grateful to everyone who contributed to this initiative, and will continue to collaborate with the industry.” Chavez also wrote that Google will “continue to utilize learnings from the retired Privacy Sandbox technologies.”
