Google's Privacy Sandbox will allow people to make an informed choice, opting in-or-out, as to whether they wish to accept or reject non-essential third-party cookies from running in their Chrome Browser. Users will have the option to make this “informed choice” regarding their privacy preferences through a one-time prompt on the platform.

The ICO’s own website, one of the UK regulators cited in the latest release, is a good example of how user may be asked to make their informed choice. This ‘soft-landing’ will still see a reduction in the third-party cookie pool available to Google Privacy Sandbox and advertisers but will not be as dramatic as the edge-of-the-cliff moment we were all anticipating in early 2025.

While this decision is significant, it doesn’t drastically alter existing recommendations to adopt cookieless solutions in your advertising tech-stack and media plan. The direction of travel for the industry is still a cookieless future, one which we all need to embrace. First-party data and technology solutions remain crucial, especially in cookie restricted browsers like Apple’s Safari and Firefox, where third-party cookies are already blocked by default.

Brands should continue to prepare for a cookieless future, as the availability of third-party cookies are expected to decrease further in the coming months and years.