Turning the marketing world upside down, Google recently announced that third-party cookies will not be phased out for the time being, as previously planned. This change comes as a surprise, especially after Google had previously announced that the third-party cookie phase-out had been delayed until 2025.
Now Google has decided not to make this change at all. But what does this mean and what impact will it have on your marketing strategy? You’ll read about it in this blog!
What are Third-Party Cookies?
hird-party cookies are small pieces of data placed in your browser by a domain other than the website you’re visiting. They allow platforms like Google to recognize users across different websites.
This is what makes things like retargeting possible. Someone visits your site, leaves without converting, and later sees your ads again while browsing elsewhere.
They’re also used for attribution. If someone clicks your ad and converts later, cookies help connect that journey back to your campaign.
For lead generation, that used to work well. But today, browsers limit cookies, many users decline consent, and part of your data simply doesn’t get tracked anymore.
Google’s initial plans and policy change
Google had originally planned to remove third-party cookies by the end of 2023 as part of their Privacy Sandbox initiative, which was designed to improve user privacy. However, early this year, Google announced that the cookie phase-out was delayed until 2025. But on a recent Monday night, the news came: Google has decided not to phase out third-party cookies at all. Instead, Google will introduce a new experience in Chrome, where users can decide how to handle tracking in their web browser settings.
This sudden change was partly prompted by concerns from advertisers, who fear their ads will be less effective without third-party cookies. Google is also in talks with various regulators to ensure that their new approach complies with European legislation, which requires users to explicitly consent to the storage of cookies.
What happened with cookies
Third-party cookies haven’t disappeared. They’re still there, especially in Chrome. What has changed is how much you can rely on them.
Browsers limit how long cookies last. A large share of users decline tracking altogether. On top of that, privacy features and consent requirements in Europe are enforced much more strictly than a few years ago.
So while cookies still exist, they capture a smaller part of user behaviour than they used to. That means gaps in your data are now normal, not an exception.
Why this matters more for lead generation
If you run lead gen campaigns, those gaps hit harder.
Unlike e-commerce, where conversions often happen in one session, lead generation usually involves multiple touchpoints. Someone clicks an ad, leaves, comes back later, compares options, and converts days or weeks after the first visit.
That journey depends heavily on retargeting to bring people back and attribution to understand what actually worked.
Both rely on tracking. When that tracking is incomplete, you lose visibility and control. Campaigns may still generate leads, but Google Ads sees less of them. That affects how it optimizes and often leads to higher costs over time.
Server-side tracking as a solution
One way to deal with this is to reduce your dependency on the browser.
With server-side tracking, conversion data is sent directly from your own backend or server to Google Ads. That makes tracking more stable and less sensitive to browser restrictions or ad blockers.
It doesn’t fix everything, but it helps recover a significant part of the data you would otherwise lose.
We’ve written more about how this works and when to use it here:
Server-side tracking for Google Ads
Building a first-party data strategy
The other piece is using the data you already have.
If you generate leads, you’re collecting valuable first-party data:
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- CRM data
- Qualified lead information
Instead of relying only on cookies, you can use this data to improve how Google understands your conversions.
Think about:
- Uploading CRM lists to Google Ads
- Feeding back qualified leads instead of just form submissions
- Using enhanced conversions to match leads more accurately
This is where a lot of performance gains come from today. Not from new channels or tricks, but from making sure your data is actually usable.
What this means going forward
Cookies are still part of the ecosystem, but they’re no longer a solid foundation for tracking. For lead generation, the focus has shifted. Reliable performance comes from combining:
- First-party data
- Better tracking setups
- Less reliance on the browser
If that’s in place, campaigns become easier to manage and scale. If not, you’re working with incomplete data and that will show up in your results.
Not sure how to work with cookies optimally for your business? Have us take a better look.
