Breathing-space, not a reprieve. The runway to replace cookies has lengthened, but stakeholders that slow investment in privacy-ready alternatives risk strategic drift.

• Signal-loss is a present-day reality. Safari, Firefox, Edge, CTV, in-app and ad-blocked Chrome have operated cookie-less for years; fragmentation in data capture and measurement persists.

• Third-party cookies were flawed from the start. Performance bias, browser patchiness and user mistrust make their eventual demise inevitable; the industry consensus still points to a post-3PC era.

• Converged is already future-proof. Our end-to-end platform unifies first-party, platform and residual cookie signals – ensuring effective planning, activation and measurement now and post-cookie.

• Regulators are tightening the screws. The UK CMA/ICO continues to pressure Google to deliver privacy-preserving alternatives; no advertiser should pin long-term strategy on 3PC survival.

The direction of travel for the industry is still a cookieless future, one which we all need to embrace.

Despite Google’s update in approach, the trajectory in digital marketing remains cookieless and this is not a time to slow down on innovation in the space. Durable data strategies are more critical than ever with the majority of environments now being without 3rd party cookies -Safari, Firefox, CTV, App and even within Chrome- when users have opted out of tracking already (via CMPs and ad-blockers).

Brands must prioritise first-party data activations

Brands must prioritise first-party data activations and testing privacy-safe alternatives from partners and ad tech. Those shifting to improved measurement will succeed, using MMM solutions, server‑side tagging, conversion APIs and clean‑room insights to maintain attribution and enable better decisioning.

Havas Converged platform for cookieless targeting and measurement solutions

This approach is already at the core of our Converged platform, unifying data across the media ecosystem, connecting client first‑party data, harnessing rich audience insight and connecting to media platforms, including legacy cookie signals for activation and measurement. This delivers greater impact and outcomes without reliance on any single data single source - such as cookies alone.

Despite the news, it’s clear we're heading to the same destination - marketers must still prioritise durable data strategies. While the pause removes the deadline, Safari, Firefox, CTV and ad blocked Chrome are already cookieless.

Priorities for marketers will be:

1. Keep testing alternative solutions with a performance mindset . Use the remaining Chrome cookies as a benchmark while piloting innovative solutions from partners and ad tech solutions.

2. Fix measurement gaps today - marketers shifting to improved measurement will succeed -  MMM solutions, server-side tagging, conversion APIs and cleanroom insights to maintain attribution and enable better decisioning

3. Unify your approach to data. At Havas’ we built Converged to unify data across the media ecosystem, connect client first-party, harness rich audience insight, and connect to media platforms and including legacy cookie signals for activation and measurement - we know this approach delivers with a greater impact and outcomes, and without reliance on any single signal like cookies. 

First-party data and technology solutions remain crucial, especially in cookie restricted browsers like Apple’s Safari and Firefox, where third-party cookies are already blocked by default. Brands should continue to prepare for a cookieless future, as the availability of third-party cookies are expected to decrease further in the coming months and years.