You can keep your cookies, for now: Google
Google is delaying its plan to get rid of third-party cookies for a third time. The news was announced on Tuesday, in advance of Google’s Q1 earnings report, and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
“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,” the company said in a statement.
“It’s also critical that the CMA (the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority) 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.”
In 2020, the tech behemoth said that they would be phasing out third-party cookies within two years. But since then, the company has moved the cookie-less goalposts two more times, to give the ad industry time to find a way to function effectively without them. Now, they are aiming to complete the process by early next year.
TikTok has nine months to find a buyer
The U.S. Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would force ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the social media platform within nine months, with a possible three-month extension if a sale is underway. Otherwise, the app will be banned in the country.
Seventy-nine senators voted for (and 18 against) the legislation, which was included in a package of four bills on military aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
“For years, we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America. That was dangerously short-sighted,” said senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee. “A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America.”
The decision to attach the TikTok bill to the aid package was made by House Republicans last week, and accelerated its passage in Congress. It came after an earlier version of the bill was stalled, which gave ByteDance six months to sell the platform.
Last Wednesday, TikTok said “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.”
The social network has been gathering support against the possible ban. It launched a TV and digital media campaign rejecting the legislation this year, and encouraged TikTok users and creators to express their opposition to the bill.
With files from Greg Hudson and Andrea Hernandez
