Google has reversed a decision on its more than five-year plan to phase out third-party cookies. The company announced Tuesday that it will keep third-party cookies in their current form and will not roll out a stand-alone "user-choice" button in Privacy Sandbox that would have allowed users to opt out of being tracked by advertisers. After careful consideration and testing, Google will keep its current approach to offer users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not roll out a new stand-alone prompt for third-party cookies, Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox at Google, wrote in a blog post. "Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings," Chavez wrote.

The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would impose sweeping restrictions on tech companies' ability to serve content to minors and handle their data. But the measure's fate is uncertain, given that it's expected to face opposition in the House of Representatives. The Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, approved 91-3, combines two previously separate bills -- the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), introduced by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), introduced by Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana).

Ad spending for 2026 midterm political season is already trending 47% higher to $3.9 billion through May 29 versus the same time period in 2022, according to AdImpact. For the 2022 midterms, spending amounted to $2.65 billion through the same day, and totaled $9.0 billion by November. Earlier projections estimated that $10.8 billion would be spent for the entire 2026 political election period -- with $5.3 billion going to broadcast TV and $2.5 billion to connected TV. Roughly 70% of overall political ad spend goes to TV (national/local) and streaming/CTV.