Third-Party Cookies Are Going Away: What Actually Replaces Them
Browsers are phasing out third-party cookies. Here's what's actually stepping in to replace their function.
Third-party cookies, small files that let advertisers track a user across many unrelated websites, are being phased out by major browsers due to mounting privacy concerns, changing how online advertising has worked for decades.
What advertisers are shifting toward
Techniques that group users into broader interest categories directly within the browser, without individually tracking each person's specific browsing history, and a renewed focus on advertising based on a site's own first-party visitor data are the main replacements being adopted.
Why this remains a contentious shift
Smaller advertisers and publishers who relied on precise third-party tracking argue the change concentrates advertising power further into the hands of large platforms that already hold extensive first-party data on their own users, making this a genuinely contested transition.