Google has been under a lot of pressure from privacy advocates over the amount of personal information the search giant holds about its users in their vast network of massive server farms. Today, Google announced it has cut the lifespan of its cookies down to two years, instead of their current 2038 expiration date.
However, the move is unlikely to satisfy privacy watchdogs, as Google cookies will automatically renew their two year lifespan if any of its services are used during this two year period.
With a vast array of services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Google Calendar, YouTube, and others falling under the Google umbrella it is hard to avoid their services for two years if you regularly use the Internet. Not to mention Google searches and Google ads built into websites, which can also record users' behavior.
In any case, people concerned about how long a cookie resides on their machines can always manually delete them by accessing their browser's preferences, or using third party free privacy tools such as CCleaner.