Google has abandoned the Q4 2024 deadline for 3rd party cookie deprecation on Chrome again. It is blaming regulatory oversight in the UK for the latest delay.

On a blog this morning, a Google spokesperson wrote, "We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It's also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June. Given both of these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4."

According to Google, "We remain committed to engaging closely with the CMA and ICO and we hope to conclude that process this year. Assuming we can reach an agreement, we envision proceeding with third-party cookie deprecation starting early next year."

Commenting on the news, Chris Brinkworth, Civic Data said, "What's concerning about these delays, are they continue to give unprepared marketing leaders a false sense of security, by overlooking the fact that their marketing, media, and measurement investments already have poor efficacy in over 30% of the 'aggregated' browser ecosystem, excluding Chrome. "

Worse still, he noted, "If 90% of their addressable market resides within that post-deprecation ecosystem that already exists, the pushbacks by Chrome will further disadvantage those not yet educated about the rest of the market."

- Additional reporting by Andrew Birmingham