Google kills Privacy Sandbox, returns to 3rd-party cookies

Technology Oct 19, 2025

Google just announced it's shutting down most of its Privacy Sandbox tech—the project that tried (since 2019) to swap out third-party cookies for more privacy-friendly ad tools in Chrome and Android.
The big idea was to use browser-based algorithms to group users by interests, not identities, but it never gained widespread adoption among advertisers, and faced regulatory scrutiny.

Back to square 1

With Privacy Sandbox gone, Google is sticking with third-party cookies for now—so targeted ads aren't going anywhere.
The UK's competition watchdog even released Google from its earlier privacy promises.
Google says it still plans to improve web privacy in the future, but for now, online ads will keep working the old way.