Is it the end for third-party cookies?
First, there is some good news for marketers. Google has announced that it is delaying its deprecation of third-party cookies until 2023.
Of course, if you’re not involved in marketing, you might be thinking, what is Google up to now, and how will it impact my resort?
Well, according to marketing data specialist, MiQ, we are currently “in the midst of the biggest shift in the way digital advertising works since its inception”. And it’s all down to our changing approach to identity.
In the pre-digital past, marketers didn’t know who saw their magazine and billboard adverts. They had to rely on the demographic data provided by the publisher, for example, and hope that it was correct.
But that changed when everything went digital. Today, marketers have access to so much of our data that they can now build complete profiles based on who responds to their marketing, where and when.
But scandals about data misuse, such as the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, have meant that we are all now concerned about the security and use of this personal data. And governments and tech companies have responded to this concern.
New data rules mean the way we understand consumer behaviour and use that knowledge to increase our marketing effectiveness will change dramatically.
So, what is Google changing, and how will it affect you?
In early 2020, Google announced that it would join several browsers to end the use of third-party cookies.
These tracking cookies are created by domains that are not the website you visit, such as an advertiser. They add a tag or script to a page and store and retrieve data to help with advertising, targeting and analytics.
Third-party cookies help websites better track and identify their users, understand website visitors and how they navigate your website. This information can then be used to provide a better user experience.
However, the use of these cookies has always been a concern. As a result, Google’s Chrome announced that it would phase out third-party cookies to protect user data and privacy by 2022 (now extended to 2023).
They are not alone. Safari has not allowed third-party cookies by default since 2017. Firefox also blocked them in 2019. But it’s Chrome’s announcement, as the most widely used browser, that has shaken the market.
And it seems to be what consumers want as they demand transparency and become more cautious and privacy-aware, even if it means a less personalised user experience.
How is business reacting?
In a recent article in the UK’s Daily Mail, Google’s plans to block web tracking tools should be investigated according to Movement for an Open Web (MOW).
This body, which represents advertisers, newsgroups and tech companies, has asked the EU Commission to rein in how the internet giant will tweak its search engine Google Chrome.
MOW insists that the proposed replacement, called the Privacy Sandbox, will hammer advertising and publishing groups while handing Google even more control over data. It will impair independent analytics, advertising, fraud detection, data services, performance optimisation and other open web features.
It said the California firm will also increase the value of data it gets from sources uniquely available to it through integrated services such as search functions.
The Daily Mail reports that a similar complaint raised in the UK led the Competition and Markets Authority to intervene. As a result, Alphabet has offered concessions that would see the regulator work with the company to design the Privacy Sandbox.
MOW director James Rosewell said: “The internet was originally envisaged as an open environment outside the control of any single body”.
MOW added that it has outlined potential remedies and wants the EU to promote independent data management to allow increased privacy and diversity.
These remedies include Google providing the EU with oversight of its planned browser changes, and an obligation to notify the EU in advance of all ‘anti-competitive browser changes’.
It also wants Google to introduce a certified compliance programme requiring regular independent audit and personal verification of compliance by Google management.
Two other remedies are regular qualitative reviews by the EU in parallel with the CMA, and oversight by data protection authorities to satisfy themselves that privacy is being protected.
A second Daily Mail article quotes Tim Cowen, chair of the antitrust practice at law firm Preiskel & Co in London and a legal advisor to MOW, who added: ‘We’re asking that the EU Commission create a level playing field for all digital businesses, to maintain and protect an open web. Google says they’re strengthening ‘privacy’ for end users but they’re not – what they’re really proposing is a creepy data mining party.’
Google maintains it is making these changes to protect privacy but if not properly policed, the move threatens digital media, online privacy and innovation.
So, what does this mean for your website and marketing activities?
Well, if and when this all goes ahead, website owners are now faced with a challenge. How to deliver personalisation in their marketing in a post-cookie world.
First, it doesn’t mean the end of cookie banners and consent management. Second, the end of third-party cookies doesn’t stop collecting and sharing data with third parties. So, you’ll still need a compliant cookie banner to provide notice, disclosure and opt-out opportunities.
And, according to CookiePro, there are other practices you can start to implement now, so you are ready for 2023.
- Capturing first-party data collected directly from your audience, including data from behaviours, actions, and interests and building your data sets to target. This maximises personalisation and revenue based on the data collected from your customers;
- Paywalls and digital subscriptions; and
- Utilise identifiers to understand your audience and segment them better
Cookie-less action plan
Although the decision to delay gives marketers some breathing space, it’s essential that you start to plan for a future without third-party cookies.
1 Identify all the places you use third-party cookies – use a scanning service such as CookiePro as you might be using cookies without knowing it!
2 Ensure compliance and transparency – find a consent management platform to ensure that you comply with regulations and capture consent for other cookie types and tracking.
3 Integrate consent across devices – identify the end-user after permission is given on the first interaction and then sync across domains, websites and mobile.
4 Establish trust and credibility – provide transparency by collecting first-party data at various collection points.
5 Give your customers more choices over their data – utilise dynamic and logic-based cookie banners for data elements, questions and options.
While the end of third-party cookies on Chrome will cause confusion and a little chaos, companies now have extra time to find a new focus and identify the positives. The future is consent, and it’s more important than ever to build sustainable customer relationships based on trust.
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