Media Briefing: Publishers are frustrated — and quietly grateful — after Google’s cookie U-turn

In this week’s Media Briefing, publishers say that after years of preparing for Google’s deprecation of third-party cookies in the Chrome browser, the tech giant’s U-turn this week felt like a slap. And yet, they say their investment in cookieless solutions and focus on first-party data hasn’t been a waste.

• Publishers are frustrated but also quietly grateful for Google’s cookie U-turn 
• The Washington Post signs a deal with OpenAI, Google’s AI Overviews faces EU scrutiny and more.

Publishers are deeply frustrated. After years of preparing for the deprecation of third-party cookies, Google’s U-turn this week has landed like a slap. The sense of betrayal is sharp, but so is the sense that they’ve been led on a wild goose chase — an expensive, time-sapping exercise that now feels, in part, like farce.

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