Regulatory scrutiny of several planned decisions that Google had in the works could have been the reason for two major reversals announced this week by the Alphabet company.

For starters, the $23 billion deal that would have represented the largest acquisition in its parent company’s history was called off by Wiz, a cloud security firm based in New York. The company reportedly rejected the offer.

The proposed deal aimed to raise Alphabet’s standing in cloud computing, a market segment led by Amazon and Microsoft. Coming in at No. 3, some say, could keep regulators at bay.

“Saying no to such humbling offers is tough, but with our exceptional team, I feel confident in making that choice,” Wiz Chief Executive Officer Assaf Rappaport wrote in a memo to employees seen by Bloomberg News. The company’s reported next milestones are reaching $1 billion in annual recurring revenue and an IPO. The acquisition could have put a stop to both.

Wiz and some of its investors had concerns about the time it would take for a deal to clear regulatory hurdles, with some people estimating it could take until the end of next year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Then backup to Monday when Google announced it will no longer deprecate third-party cookies in the Chrome browser, and instead introduce a new experience to give users a choice. It also will introduce an IP Protection initiative, formerly known as Gnatcatcher, to run in default across Chrome by 2025.

The company introduced Gnatcatcher, an IP Protection technology, years ago that blocks websites from tracking users, but last year began testing it as a security alternative for privacy features in Chrome.

New Street Research released a note Tuesday outlining the implications of Google’s decision on a variety of companies in the space such as The Trade Desk (TTD), Amazon, Meta, Snap, Pinterest, and Reddit.

Dan Salomon, lead of New Street Research’s U.S. Internet team, called out The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green, who has had long-held a view that Google would ultimately call off the deprecation of cookies in Chrome.

“Having invested significantly in alternative tools like UID2 and OpenPass, we felt it was increasingly likely that TTD’s superior relative positioning could actually help the company gain share from lower quality, Tier 2 ad tech companies that had not invested in alternatives as much,” Salomon wrote. “That potential shift will not be as robust now, but we think the impact is largely immaterial to TTD’s growth.”

Salomon also notes that Criteo, Magnite, and Pubmatic might see some near-term financial impact, but like The Trade Desk, it ultimately may be slight.  

The stricter consent mechanism on Google Chrome will still make alternatives valuable for users who do not consent to being tracked, but remain unnecessary for users that continue to allow third-party cookies.

Salomon does see a negative impact for RampID, which was one of the first alternative IDs a replacement for ad targeting and measurement.

Ad executives like Nicky Watson, data privacy expert and founder of consent management platform Cassie, never believed Google would actually intend to complete its Privacy Sandbox plans.

Andrew Frank, distinguished vice president analyst, at Gartner, said there’s no sign that Google will completely abandon efforts to replace cookie functions with Privacy Sandbox, despite facing regulatory setbacks, but continuing the presence of third-party cookies is unlikely to satisfy many stakeholders seeking a stable playing field for digital advertising.

Regulatory scrutiny of several planned decisions that Google had in the works could have been the reason for reversals announced this week by the Alphabet company.