Google delays FLoC rollout until 2023

The company's replacement plan for cookies is a controversial system called "FLoC," but after many big Internet players came out against the idea (and the EU launched an antitrust investigation into the plan) Google now says that "it's become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right." The new timeline pushes back the death of third-party cookies by about a year and a half.Back in January 2020, Google announced a plan to drop support for third-party cookies in Chrome "within two years." The Chrome "Privacy Sandbox" would block the third-party cookies typically used for ad targeting, but given Google's multibillion-dollar ad business, "not tracking users at all" is not an option. Google says this delay will "allow sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions, continued engagement with regulators, and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services." While FLoC is Google's primary pitch for a user-tracking ad cookie replacement, it's not the only plan.