New challenges, new opportunities
At first glance, the postponement of third-party cookie removal might seem like a reprieve. But beneath the surface, the media landscape is changing rapidly. Belgian media sales houses are fully embracing campaigns driven by contextual and first-party data within high-quality content environments such as news and streaming platforms. This allows advertisers to continue reaching their target audiences effectively, even without relying on third-party cookies. Moreover, this approach aligns well with how AI platforms like ChatGPT select and recommend content.
Back to square one
In January 2020, Google announced it would phase out third-party cookies in Chrome within two years, as part of the Privacy Sandbox project. That deadline has been postponed multiple times—first to 2022, then to 2024, and finally to 2025. On April 22, 2025, however, Google confirmed it would not go through with the phase-out after all. Instead, users will gain more control through their existing browser settings. Chrome—which holds roughly 55% market share in Belgium—will therefore continue to support third-party cookies for the time being, unlike browsers such as Safari and Firefox, where these cookies are already blocked by default.
What does this mean for advertisers and media planners?
For advertisers and media planners, audience targeting and campaign performance measurement through cookies will remain available in Chrome for now. At the same time, the structural shift towards first-party data and contextual targeting continues. This is a response to stricter privacy regulations, the growing number of users refusing cookies, and the influence of AI. Browser-specific planning remains crucial: what works in Chrome won’t necessarily work in Safari or Firefox.
NOTE: Even though cookies are sticking around for now, AI is making measurement less reliable. More and more users are browsing via tools like ChatGPT, making it harder to trace clicks and conversions back to the right source. Traditional attribution models are fading.
