Google has officially eliminated its Privacy Sandbox and removed the remaining 10 Sandbox technologies that were still available, marking an end to its yearslong plan to pivot away from third-party cookies on Chrome. Even as giants like Google step away from first-party initiatives, advertisers should prepare for continued change as many are pushing forward with post-cookie ambitions. Cookies may linger for some time to come, but that doesn’t negate broader consumer sentiments that favor data transparency.

As advertisers navigate Google’s recent search changes that favor its emerging AI models, retail media strategies could offer them heightened visibility and control.

While third-party cookies are here to stay—for now—marketers can’t afford to be complacent about measurement. With privacy regulations mounting and most consumers blocking cookies, measuring digital ad performance remains a complex and challenging task.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why Google is now keeping third-party cookies, who’s most likely to buy Chrome if they have to sell it, and the impact of AI Overviews so far. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Google has backtracked on its cookie plans once again, this time scrapping its decision to offer users a prompt to opt out of third-party cookies.

UK investigates how children’s personal data is used: The move comes as people are increasingly wary about invasive data collection practices.

Disruption is imminent for programmatic. The market teeters on the brink of several seismic shifts around identity and audience data. And a landmark antitrust ruling could energize an already hot ad tech consolidation streak.

As of February 16, 2025, Google will sanction advertisers to use digital fingerprinting, a data collection technique that gathers information about a particular device, browser, or user.

As cookies face an uncertain future, marketing leaders have shifted away from creating data-gathering strategies and are exploring how to better utilize the data they have. In February 2022, 58.3% of CMOs said their company had created a stronger data strategy to capture better information, compared with 41.9% who said the same in September 2024. In addition, fewer CMOs are offering customers incentives to provide access to their data (down more than 8 percentage points).

In 2024, connected TV (CTV) platforms raced to expand ad-supported content, Google delayed its cookie plans (again), and brands chased insights from social media giants on how to break through to consumers.

The free, ad-supported internet runs on consumer data. But privacy legislation is making it harder for advertisers to take advantage of it.

Marketers are tuning their targeting strategies for a 2025 where cookies remain in limbo, media mix modeling (MMM) usage expands, and experimentation with AI continues.

An ad tech M&A spree hints at advertising’s future: A resilient market and dramatic changes create openings for new blood.

As cookies decline in relevance and companies build out their first-party data approaches, organizations need clear data collection, maintenance, sharing, and targeting strategies. “Disparate data is going to lead into a fragmented view of customers, and that will make a broken experience,” said Moitree Rahman, senior director of first-party strategy at Eli Lilly & Company, speaking at our EMARKETER Summit.

As 2024 heads into the last quarter, the tech and media landscapes face pivotal shifts. From a potential AI backlash to new Google consent workflows, and TikTok’s future, these medium-term predictions, shared by our analysts on a recent two-part episode of EMARKETER’s “Behind the Numbers” podcast, spotlight the challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead.

Google replaces a longstanding video format with AI: Video Action Campaigns will be folded into Demand Gen, which relies heavily on Google AI.

Google no longer plans to unilaterally eliminate cookies from its Chrome browser. After four years of begrudging preparation, the advertising industry is reeling.

Advertisers won’t have to quit third-party cookies cold turkey, but long-standing market dynamics around access to quality data aren’t going anywhere.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Google might present its third-party cookie opt-in to Chrome users, what cookie and cookieless traffic will look like in the future, and what the next move for marketers should be. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson and analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf.