Does Google Chrome Still Block Third-Party Cookies in 2026?

No, Google Chrome does not block third-party cookies by default in 2026. Google reversed its original plan to phase them out, announcing in April 2025 that it would keep Chrome's existing cookie controls instead of forcing users through a new consent prompt — meaning third-party cookies remain active for most Chrome users outside of Incognito mode.

What Actually Happened to the "Cookiepocalypse"

Chrome's Privacy Sandbox initiative, first announced in 2019, was supposed to end with third-party cookies being removed from the browser entirely. Google tested that removal on a small slice of users — about 1% of Chrome's Stable channel — starting in January 2024. But rather than expanding that test to full removal, Google walked the plan back. In April 2025, Anthony Chavez, the VP overseeing Privacy Sandbox, confirmed Google would not deprecate third-party cookies and would instead maintain the existing opt-out controls already present in Chrome's settings.

Why Google Reversed Course

Chrome never actually completed the third-party cookie phase-out it spent six years preparing for. The stated reasoning centered on the tradeoffs the industry and regulators surfaced during testing: publishers and advertisers reported measurement and revenue impacts in the 1% test group, and UK regulators had been closely scrutinizing whether Privacy Sandbox itself created new competitive concerns for Google versus other ad tech players. Rather than resolve those tensions with a hard cutover, Google chose to leave the decision in users' hands through existing settings.

What Changed for Privacy Sandbox APIs

The reversal didn't kill Privacy Sandbox outright, but it did narrow it. In October 2025, Google retired several Privacy Sandbox APIs that had seen low industry adoption, while continuing to support others — including CHIPS (partitioned cookies), FedCM (federated identity), and Private State Tokens. Topics API and the Protected Audience API, the cookie-replacement systems built for targeting and remarketing, remain available for advertisers who want to experiment with them, but none of it is mandatory the way a full cookie ban would have made it.

What Still Blocks Third-Party Cookies

Chrome's default, cookie-permitting behavior only applies to normal browsing. Incognito mode still blocks third-party cookies automatically, as it has for years, and Google has said it will keep improving tracking protections there. Safari and Firefox, unlike standard Chrome, have blocked third-party cookies by default for years — so cross-browser measurement gaps that existed before 2025 haven't gone away; they just didn't get worse from Chrome joining them.

What This Means for Attribution Planning

Treat this as a reprieve, not a reason to stop investing in first-party data. Browser-level cookie policy has proven to be a moving target for six years running, and Chrome's reversal doesn't guarantee a future one won't happen, particularly if regulatory pressure shifts. Conversion APIs, server-side tagging, and first-party data collection remain the more durable foundation for measurement regardless of what Chrome does next, since they don't depend on a single browser vendor's policy decisions.

Bottom Line

Don't rebuild your attribution stack around an assumption that Chrome has eliminated or will soon eliminate third-party cookies — it hasn't, and the April 2025 reversal suggests Google is no longer on a fixed timeline to do so. Keep server-side conversion tracking and first-party data collection as your primary measurement layer, and treat cookie-based tracking as a bonus signal rather than critical infrastructure.

Sources: Google's April 2025 Privacy Sandbox announcement as reported by TechRadar ("The goodbye that never was: Chrome to hold on to 3rd-party cookies, why?"), DarkReading ("Google Will Not Remove Third-Party Cookies From Chrome"), and eMarketer ("Google says it will not deprecate third-party cookies on Chrome").