New Delhi, Jul 28 (IANS): Google has announced to delay its ambitious plan to block third-party tracking cookies in Chrome browser to the second half of 2024.

Google originally announced its plan to phase out support for third-party tracking cookies in Chrome -- called Privacy Sandbox API testing initiative -- within two years in early 2020.

"By Q3 2023, we expect the Privacy Sandbox APIs to be launched and generally available in Chrome," Anthony Chavez, VP, Privacy Sandbox, said in a statement late on Wednesday.

As developers adopt these APIs, "we now intend to begin phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024", he added.

The Privacy Sandbox initiative is to collaborate with the ecosystem on developing privacy-preserving alternatives to third-party cookies and other forms of cross-site tracking.

Over the past several months, Google has released trial versions of a number of new Privacy Sandbox APIs in Chrome for developers to test.

Earlier this year, Google reached an agreement with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on how its develops and releases the Privacy Sandbox in Chrome worldwide.

"The most consistent feedback we've received is the need for more time to evaluate and test the new Privacy Sandbox technologies before deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome," said the company.

For these reasons, "we are expanding the testing windows for the Privacy Sandbox APIs before we disable third-party cookies in Chrome".

Developers can already test these APIs now, and beginning in early August, the Privacy Sandbox trials will expand to millions of users globally.

Google will gradually increase the trial population throughout the rest of the year and into 2023.