The digital advertising landscape is on the brink of a major transformation as we bid farewell to third-party cookies. Over the years, these small pieces of code have played a pivotal role in tracking user behavior across the web. They have enabled advertisers to deliver targeted and personalized ads.
However, increasing concerns over privacy and a growing emphasis on user consent have led to a seismic shift in the industry. In this article, we will explore how the end of third-party cookies will impact advertisers. We will also discuss the strategies they can adopt to thrive in this new era.
What Are Third-Party Cookies?
When you browse the web, your browser constantly receives website requests to load certain assets. These requests are sent as HTTP GET or POST requests, which your browser processes and executes.
A request for an image file or HTML page often includes additional information about processing that request. This additional information is typically stored as cookies. They are small text files stored on your computer when you visit a website for the first time.
Cookies generally have two purposes. First, they allow websites to remember what preferences each user has set during their previous visits. Second, they allow advertisers who run ads across multiple sites to track browsing activity to better target ads based on these preferences.
Why Are Third-Party Cookies Coming to an End?
Third-party cookies are facing a decline due to growing concerns over user privacy. As online activities have become more pervasive, users have become increasingly aware of the extensive tracking mechanisms employed by third-party cookies. This heightened awareness has led to a demand for greater privacy safeguards.
In response to these concerns, major web browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari, have reduced or eliminated support for third-party cookies. Google, in particular, announced its intention to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2024.
According to Forbes, 65% of the browser market uses cookies, but within a year or so, they will be phased out. 2.5 billion users of Google Chrome will be affected.
What Will Change for Advertisers?
As a marketer, you’ll have to get used to some changes.
- Data collection will be more restricted. You can no longer collect data from users without their consent. Hence, it’s important to have an opt-in process in place before any kind of tracking begins.
- Data collection will be more transparent. Your audience will know what information is being collected about them and why it’s being collected. This means they’ll understand what they agree to when providing their details. And if they don’t agree with your terms or policies, they may not engage with your ads as much anymore.
Advertisers have long relied on third-party cookies for retargeting strategies and delivering personalized content. Without this mechanism, the targeting precision may diminish, making tailoring ads to individual preferences more challenging. This shift may lead to a more generalized approach, potentially affecting the overall effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Therefore, advertisers need to adopt these measures to ensure the demise of cookies doesn’t impact their revenue. The good news is that cookieless monetization can offer them this opportunity. With the help of ID clustering, advertisers can embrace cookieless monetization to enhance ad bids and regain lost revenue from cookieless inventories.
According to Intent IQ, ID clustering in advertising refers to grouping individuals or users. This is done based on their unique identifiers, such as cookies, device IDs, households, or other tracking mechanisms.
The aim is to create clusters or segments of users who share similar characteristics or behavior patterns. This method allows advertisers to target specific groups more effectively and deliver personalized content or advertisements to individuals within those clusters.
Strategies to Thrive in the Cookieless World
According to MarTech, almost 75% of marketers still use third-party cookies. Hence, it will be difficult for them initially. However, as the news of the demise of third-party cookies spread, several new strategies have been built by advertisers to thrive. Here are some of these strategies:
First-Party Data: A New Imperative
Without third-party cookies, the value of first-party data will skyrocket. Advertisers must intensify efforts to collect and leverage their customer data. This includes optimizing website forms, implementing effective customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and encouraging users to willingly share information through value-added services.
Advertisers may find new opportunities for collaboration and data sharing within their ecosystems. Advertisers can pool their first-party data resources by forming partnerships with like-minded organizations or platforms. This will help them create a more comprehensive view of consumer behavior. However, careful attention must be paid to legal and ethical considerations to ensure compliance with privacy regulations.
Contextual Targeting
Contextual targeting, which focuses on the content of a webpage rather than individual user behavior, will become increasingly vital. Advertisers must invest in technologies that can analyze the context of a user’s online activity.
Through this, they can deliver relevant ads based on the content individuals engage with. This shift emphasizes the importance of high-quality, relevant content that aligns with the target audience’s interests.
There are several cookieless advertising solutions that can help advertisers with contextual marketing. These solutions use different technologies for creating context. For instance, a cookieless advertising solution can use identity resolution.
Identity resolution is linking and matching disparate pieces of information to create a unified and accurate profile of an individual, entity, or object. It involves integrating data from various sources to establish a comprehensive and reliable identity for a particular subject.
Device fingerprint technology is another way to do contextual marketing through a cookieless advertising solution. It uses hardware specs like CPU speed or screen resolution to determine whether someone has been seen on your site before. According to Wired, recent studies revealed that 80 to 90 % of browser fingerprints are unique for each person.
To sum up, the end of third-party cookies is a big change for advertisers, but it doesn’t have to be a scary one. There are plenty of opportunities in this new digital landscape, and no one knows them better than you. As an advertiser, you know your business best and have access to data that will help guide your decisions.
