The cookieless future is no longer a distant change – it’s going to happen any moment. Since Google announced removing third-party cookies from Chrome, businesses have been preparing and speculating about the impact that this will have on marketing. And, with the year 2024 almost here, along with the planned deadline for the phase-out (Q3), we are closer and closer to this major change happening. But what does it mean, and how to navigate through this new digital world? We’ll provide you with answers here!
Understanding the Cookieless Future
While the term might sound daunting, in reality, it’s going to be a big shift, not certainly negative – with such breakthroughs, new solutions emerge, often better than the previous ones. Yet, the beginnings will surely be full of hardship, especially since they will require us to change the way we advertise our products and services.
Despite privacy concerns, third-party cookies are widely used to gather data on internet users and target them more accurately with advertisements. Without them being supported, this task will be significantly more difficult, but not impossible – the alternatives are already being developed.
Navigating the Cookieless World
While it will be more difficult, targeted advertising will still be possible after third-party cookies are phased out. There are several methods on how you can handle the cookieless future, so we present to you the most promising ones.
- Privacy Sandbox – Privacy Sandbox is a set of tools developed by Google to fill the gap after Chrome removes third-party cookie support. Its main two functions are Topics API and Protected Audience API.
- Topics API focuses on website classification. It will help you personalize your advertisements by analyzing users’ browsing history (as long as they are logged into their Google account).
- Protected Audience API…protects user data. Its role is to categorize users and manage their privacy by ensuring that no data leaves their devices. Thanks to it, the users will remain anonymous, and the only information that the website will see is the interest group to which this user has been assigned.
- First-party cookies – Another alternative is to use first-party data, such as customer profiles, shopping history, and behavior on your website. While it will only let you reach out to those users who willingly entered your website and left their data there, you can still achieve a high level of personalization with this type of information.
- Context – You may also switch from the users to the context. Instead of searching for applicable target groups, place your ads on websites with content that matches the interests of your target audience. You won’t be able to personalize your marketing efforts fully, but it’s still a viable option.
The Takeaway
Are you prepared for the cookieless future? If not, start testing out the alternative so that you’ll be ready when the time finally comes. By leveraging the Privacy Sandbox, first-party data, and context marketing, you will still be able to advertise your products and services effectively.
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