Google delays plan to phase out Chrome ad-tracking tech

Google says it’s delaying plans to phase out Chrome browser technology that tracks users for ad purposes because it needs more time to develop a replacement system

LONDON -- Google says it's delaying plans to phase out Chrome web browser technology that tracks users for ad purposes because it needs more time to develop a replacement system. The tech giant said Thursday that its deadline to remove so-called third-party cookies will be pushed back to late 2023, nearly two years later than the initial timing of January 2022. “We need to move at a responsible pace, allowing sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services,” Vinay Goel, the director of privacy engineering for Chrome, said in a blog post. Third-party cookies are snippets of code that log user info and are used by advertisers to more effectively target their campaigns, thereby helping fund free online content such as newspapers and blogs. However, they’ve also been a longstanding source of privacy concerns because they can be employed to track users across the internet.