The Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) has welcomed Google's reversion of its third-party cookie deprecation plans, but has urged marketers to continue the work they have done to develop a post-cookie strategy.

"“For marketers, the proposals put forward in the Privacy Sandbox to date have been concerning due to the negative impact they would have on advertising effectiveness and campaign performance, whilst still not meeting privacy laws," said ADMA CEO Andrea Martens. "ADMA is encouraged to see that Google has taken a different approach, rather than dogmatically pursuing a solution that would not benefit either the consumer or the marketer. We look forward to Google engaging with industry as it rolls this out."

Google confirmed in a statement earlier today that it would not be moving ahead with its long-awaited deprecation plans, and would instead give users greater control over their online data settings. In ADMA's view, the decision aligns with the proposed privacy reforms in the Australian market.

"While putting more control into consumers' hands will likely see a reduction in third-party cookie tracking over time, the ability to still use third-party cookies will take some pressure off those who are still heavily reliant on them," said Martens.

But with a large privacy overhaul incoming, Martens said the industry must not be "complacent" or throw away the hard work they have already done" in preparation for deprecation.

"There is already a move away from relying on third-party cookie strategies as deprecation has already taken place across other browsers and consumer expectations regarding how their data is used, with consent, in fair and reasonable ways, is becoming the required standard. Those who embed their marketing strategies in these more evolved fundamental principles will be ahead of the curve in this new paradigm," she said.