Chrome did not kill cookies. Google retired Privacy Sandbox instead.
If someone is still selling you a “cookieless 2026” mobile proxy, they are a year behind. Chrome kept third-party cookies. In October 2025 Google retired Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting, and IP Protection.
The story vendors are still telling
For years the pitch was simple: Chrome will drop third-party cookies, so you need another identifier. Mobile IPs were sold as that identifier. Roundups in 2026 still repeat the pitch. The calendar does not.
Google abandoned the cookie phase-out. In April 2025 it said Chrome would keep offering third-party cookie choice in existing settings, with no new standalone prompt. Then on 17 October 2025 it retired most of the Privacy Sandbox advertising APIs, citing low adoption.
The retired list includes Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting, Private Aggregation, Shared Storage, and IP Protection. Chrome still supports CHIPS (partitioned cookies), FedCM, and Private State Tokens. Those are not a drop-in replacement for the cookie graph vendors promised you.
What this means if you run ads
You still need a consent banner in the EEA and the UK for non-essential cookies and for personalised ads. Chrome keeping cookies does not make that legal work go away. If anything, the cookie is still there, so the ePrivacy rules still apply to it.
Google’s August 2026 EU update — using visitor IP addresses for ads measurement and personalisation — is a separate change. It is about people who visit a site you tagged. It is not Chrome turning your 4G modem into a cookie. That story is in Google’s August 2026 ads change.
IP Protection was also on the retired list. That was a Chrome plan to hide the browser’s IP from some third parties. It is not a product you buy from a proxy vendor, and Google is not shipping it as the Privacy Sandbox replacement.
Where a dedicated 4G line still fits
A dedicated European 4G modem is for the login you make: one Business Manager, one profile, one customer on the SIM, an address that stays until you request a new one. It does not set cookies on your landing page. It does not send Consent Mode. It does not replace Topics.
If you were about to buy a rotating gigabyte pool “because cookies are dying,” stop. That product is for jobs that want a fresh address on a schedule. It is the wrong buy if Ads Manager has to keep the same mobile exit for hours.
Before you put a real login on any line, confirm the browser is on HTTP and watch the public IP for an hour. How to tell if your mobile proxy is shared is the check. We sell Telekom Slovenije 4G, one modem per customer. We do not sell a cookie replacement.
Source: Google — Update on Plans for Privacy Sandbox Technologies (17 Oct 2025)
Did Chrome turn off third-party cookies in 2026?
No. Google kept third-party cookie choice in Chrome settings and did not roll out a new standalone prompt. Safari and Firefox already restrict cross-site cookies. The EU still requires consent for non-essential cookies.
Is a mobile proxy a replacement for Privacy Sandbox?
No. Google retired Topics, Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting, and IP Protection in October 2025. A dedicated 4G modem is a login path. It is not those APIs.
Where did Google announce the retirement?
On the Privacy Sandbox blog, 17 October 2025, “Update on Plans for Privacy Sandbox Technologies.”