The digital marketing world is on the brink of another shake up. Having spent years facing growing concerns about privacy, third-party cookies will be a thing of the past soon. If it all goes through as planned, we’ll have to change how we attack all kinda of marketing strategies, whether that be for campaigns, conversion or CRM.
But why?
We now know, not surprisingly that erm… people don’t like being tracked. Creepy ads, however well targeted don’t exactly leave the sweetest of taste. So let’s go back to the start, what exactly are cookies? .. and no we’re not talking about the kind a certain blue monster eats... we’re talking about the ones that your web browser munches on.
In digital marketing lingo, a cookie is a tiny piece of data that a website stores on a user’s browser whilst they’re visiting. These serve as a memory for the website, allowing it to remember and recognize the user and their preferences, whether they’re signed in or what’s currently in their shopping cart.
Cookies are broken down into 3 types:
• First-Party Cookies
These we like. These are the ones that are generally on the site you visited and they can make your stay a bit nicer. They remember things like language preferences, what’s in your cart or even if you’ve logged in. They are respectful of your privacy, and generally are created and stored by the same site (and they don’t track you across the web.)
• Second-Party Cookies
Better defined as ‘second party data’, these gather the same information as first-party cookies; but the big difference is your data might be shared with another site. For example, let’s say you’ve booked a stay at a ski resort through booking.com, they might share this data with a partner selling snow gear.
• Third-Party Cookies
The first two cookie types are inoffensive enough. But these are the ‘gossipy neighbours’ of the digital world. These cookies are created by sites other than the one you are visiting. Yep, they’re the ones that follow you round because they enable ad targeting, cross-site tracking and retargeting. Ever bought that toilet seat on Amazon and all your sponsored Ads seems to be of more toilet seats? That’ll be a third party cookie. Thanks Amazon, we only need one loo seat.
Why the long face?
Third-Party cookies have been a bit of a sticky subject for a while now. Chances are, you feel a bit queasy when you realise Big Brother is tracking your every move online - usually without asking. So with more people aware of what info they’re sharing online, third-party cookies have come into sharp focus. Remember a couple of years ago when you got an email from every single website on the planet? Well, that was because of GDPR laws (General Data Protection Regulation in case you’re an acronym fan)… And that all kicked off because of third-party cookies.
The timeline
So when is this all happening? Erm. Well it's probably not. For now at least. For a while the move to end third-party cookies was absolutely happening. Google started a year long plan to phase out third-party cookies in 2024, on top of the changes they’d already made to Google Analytics (GA). But then in 2024, Google shocked the marketing community by abandoning those plans. Here's the timeline...
2018 –GDPR came into effect, setting new standards for user consent and data protection.
2020 – CCPA was enforced, giving Californian residents more control (and yes, this also effects businesses in the UK that don’t have US offices)
2022 – Google announced its plans to phase out third-party cookies from Chrome by 2023
2023 – Google pushed the date back to late 2023 with GA4 replacing Universal Analytics
2024 – Google announces it will no longer remove third-party cookies.
But here's the thing. Just because Google have said that they won't remove third-party cookies, doesn't mean the story is over. Essentially what they're doing is rolling out one-time prompt that enables users to set preferences that will apply across Google browsing experiences. The challenge now is that the underlying problem of user privacy and trust is still there...
The biggest gripe your customers have with cookies
TV ads are a fair value exchange because people get quality in TV in exchange for a short interruption. In other words, it's a value exchange in both directions. The problem with cookies is that the end user gets no value back for exposing their data.
Advertisers will say that the main benefit is that customers get a “better” or a “tailored” experience, but that's a benefit to the advertiser. When given a clear option to opt-out of tracking, to use VPN's or to use ad-blockers, people tend to take it - which should tell you you everything you need to know.
The way forward
The best way to protect yourself as a brand at this point is to ignore what Google does and do right by your customers. If customers are rejecting tracking, it’s on you as a brand to connect with them without it. And if customers don’t want a personalised experience, then it’s on you to work out how to connect with them without making use of personalisation. Think about it. Does your waiter at the table take your order and your name? No; because it’s possible to give a personal service without knowing their PIN code and their mum’s maiden name.
It might sound more like a diet plan than a marketing thing, but a cookieless future is probably better for everyone. By weaning ourselves off tracking data, we can focus on collecting first party data (with consent of course) that actually helps us serve people better, rather than solely to target them irrelevant ads.
We can expect new, privacy-first technologies and tools that redefine how we understand and engage with our audiences and create stronger customer relationships. We protect our own data, and we build more respectful customer relationships. What’s not to like?
