Ad companies rejoice after Google's cookie plan crumbles

After tormenting the ad industry for four years with its plan to get rid of third-party cookies, Google did an about-face and finally relented earlier this week. Instead of “deprecating third-party cookies,” it’s introducing a “new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice.” In other words, Google will prompt Chrome users to choose whether to opt out of cookies — something they can already do.

Of course, in that time, many ad tech companies spent tons of time and money trying pivot from cookies, a tracking technology that enabled them to target ads online. And perhaps users will turn off cookies en masse anyway. What ultimately happens with cookies and ad tech in general remains to be seen. Even still, the industry’s stock is looking up.

The AdProfs AdTech Index, which tracks publicly-traded companies that provide advertising technology software and services, is up 5% from Friday.