Don’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar! It’s time to cash in your chips and prepare for the demise of third-party cookies.
Almost 30 years have passed since ad platforms began placing third-party cookies on a user’s device – essentially launching the age of digital advertising.
However, data privacy concerns have spurred a push for Google to eliminate third-party cookies.
Google Chrome, which has a 65.8% market share, originally planned to deprecate third-party cookie use in 2022 but rolled back the plan to support businesses and provide more time to prepare for the transition.
When are Third-Party Cookies Going Away?
The latest news on cookie deprecation is that Google has again pushed back the timeline for phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome. As of June 14, 2024:
- The deprecation was originally planned for early 2022.
- It was then delayed to late 2023.
- Then again to late 2024.
- And now, most recently, Google expects to start phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome early in 2025.
This delay is due to a few factors:
- Regulatory Scrutiny: Google is working with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to address concerns about the impact of cookie deprecation on competition.
- Industry Testing: The CMA has requested additional testing from the industry to assess the effectiveness of alternative solutions like Google’s Privacy Sandbox.
While the exact timeline remains uncertain, it appears unlikely that third-party cookies will be completely gone from Chrome before 2025. This gives marketers some additional time to prepare for a cookieless future.
3 Strategies to Prepare for Third-Party Cookie Deprecation
While cookie deprecation may be delayed (yet again), the time is now to develop strategies that protect your marketing from the ramifications.
1. Collect and Leverage First-Party Data
First-party data is data you collect directly from your customers. The value of first-party data lies in its ability to enable personalized experiences and empower data-driven decision-making.
Brands that can build a scaled first-party database across customers and prospects can then reach these audiences in both the walled garden apps and the authenticated traffic marketplace on the open web.
- Like any relationship, a first-party data relationship needs time and trust to nurture and grow. Some ideas to move your users through the relationship funnel include providing a sign-up for a newsletter, sending an alert when a desired product is back in stock, and providing the opportunity to create their own wish list. (LiveRamp)
- Gain trust by ensuring that the correct individuals are being targeted and that they are being sent relevant messages.
- For publishers, invest in valuable experiences to give users a reason to log in. Authenticated traffic offers valuable insights.
Free Guide: First-Party Data Benefits and Best Practices
2. Contextual Targeting
Contextual targeting displays ads based on the surrounding content of a web page or app, rather than individual user data.
Imagine it like placing a movie trailer before a thematically relevant film. Instead of following users around the web, contextual targeting analyzes the keywords, topics, and overall theme of a webpage to determine if it’s a suitable space for your ad.
This approach allows you to reach people who are already interested in relevant topics, increasing the chance your ad will resonate and convert them into customers. As third-party cookie usage wanes, contextual targeting offers a powerful strategy for delivering targeted advertising in a privacy-conscious future.
Tune into our podcast episode and listen to our team weigh in on how to navigate the cookielss future – Breaking Up with Cookies: What’s Next?
3. Explore Privacy-Compliant Solutions
The industry is actively developing new tools and technologies to navigate the cookieless future. Stay informed about initiatives like Google’s Privacy Sandbox, which aims to provide alternative solutions for ad targeting and measurement while prioritizing user privacy.
Here’s a deeper dive into privacy-preserving solutions to consider:
Privacy Sandbox: Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a collection of evolving proposals designed to offer alternative functionalities for ad targeting and measurement without relying on third-party cookies. Initiatives like Topics and FLEDGE aim to achieve this by allowing browsers to understand a user’s general interests (e.g., sports fan) without revealing specific websites visited. Explore these solutions and participate in beta programs to understand their potential for your campaigns.
Consent Management Platforms (CMPs): As user privacy becomes paramount, transparency and control are key. CMPs provide a user-friendly interface for websites to obtain informed consent for data collection. By implementing a CMP, you demonstrate your commitment to user privacy, potentially fostering trust and encouraging valuable first-party data collection.
Data Clean Rooms: Imagine a secure environment where you can collaborate with partners and agencies to analyze data sets without compromising user privacy. Data clean rooms offer a promising solution by allowing you to combine your first-party data with partner data while keeping individual user information anonymized. This facilitates campaign measurement and audience insights without infringing on user privacy.
Conclusion
Experiment with these solutions to identify what works best for your campaigns. Remember, the most effective strategies will likely involve a combination of first-party data, contextual targeting, and leveraging new privacy-compliant tools.
Want to learn more about how marketers are building effective audiences without third-party cookies?
Get your free copy of the 2024 B2C Marketing Audience Building Report.
Cookieless Advertising Resources
Need more info to prepare for the demise of third-party cookies? Our cookieless advertising resources are here to help.
