How the elimination of Google's 3rd-party cookies affects businesses, marketers, and advertisers.
With Google deciding to eliminate 3rd-party cookies by 2023, it doesn’t come as a surprise that this has impacted many businesses, including advertisers and marketers looking to use digital advertising to promote brands. But what does Google’s decision mean for the online world?
Google decided on the elimination of 3rd-party cookies due to the users’ (and perhaps Government) requests for more privacy. Some people were concerned about how their data was being used, so Google made this move to prevent individual tracking. With a goal of putting users’ minds at ease without completely jeopardizing online business models (in theory). So far, Google has delayed the cookie crumble in an effort to propose a new targeting solution without individual tracking. What does this mean for businesses that rely on 3rd-party cookies for digital advertising?
This decision by Google has brought about wide change, with businesses now thinking of alternatives to track data or market their products while still delivering the desired results wanted by businesses. Advertisers and marketers everywhere were alarmed by the elimination of 3rd-party data since they often rely on 3rd-party cookies to create direct advertising for specific audiences — this was the norm for online advertising!
According to Hubspot, 41% of marketers believe their biggest challenge will be their inability to track the right data.
However, Google’s new strategy changes will help businesses continue to advertise in a crumbled 3rd-party cookie world. Read on for the key points you should be aware of concerning this cookie elimination.
To fully understand what Google’s decision means for the world, let's discuss the difference between 3rd-party and 1st-party cookies since only 3rd-party cookies are being eliminated. A 1st-party cookie is a cookie established by the publisher’s website. An example of this is Amazon. It is accessible to the domain that created this cookie. Ever wondered why Amazon remembers your browsing history? This boils down to the website remembering your data through its 1st-party cookie.
In contrast, a 3rd-party cookie is established by, you guessed it — a 3rd-party server. Currently, this cookie can be accessed on a website that loads the tags (or script) of that particular 3rd-party sever. These tags are used to serve up digital ads based on past browsing behavior and retargeting. An example of this is while visiting news sites like ESPN.com, you may find it odd to see that jacket advertisement from a website you recently viewed, which has nothing to do with the sports team you are currently reading about online. Even personal chefs can opt in to run Google ads on their personal websites as they promote their favorite recipes.
These 3rd-party cookies are not malicious and don't carry any viruses, but they can track browsing behavior across the world wide web. In an effort to protect data privacy, Google plans to get rid of individual cookies on its browsers while still allowing 1st-party cookies to still be present. Therefore, some cookie-fueled marketing strategies are safe to forge ahead using 1st-party cookies for specific sites (not across multiple sites) to understand visitor behavior when a user opts in. Such opted-in data is usually received when completing a purchase or downloading some content.
With some cookies remaining, it’s no surprise that some tracking has remained too. Google is investing in alternatives, called Federal Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), using certain smart technologies to track people in groups rather than individuals. FLoC runs on Google Chrome's browsing history in the past week and assigns a browsing behavior.
FLoC provides privacy to individuals to remain anonymous and advertisers can still target large groups of people with similar interests. And Google doesn't plan on targeting groups smaller than 1,000. This way, great advertising results can continue to thrive and your identity as an animal-lover that sometimes buys leather is protected.
While we don’t know the repercussions of a FLoC-led advertising, Google is aware that the 3rd-party cookie crumble has a potentially negative impact on some digital businesses. And perhaps 3rd-party cookies were never a long term solution, but it’s clear that Google has its sights on a privacy sandbox. FLoC doesn’t make all your browsing behavior completely invisible, but it also isn’t a glass house.
It seems like Google is becoming more responsible and choosing to not make millions off your every digital move. But it also makes sense that Google doesn’t plan to implode their online advertising model with the elimination of 3rd party cookies. Now it’s up to businesses, marketers, and advertisers to also become more responsible with their strategies. As Tom Fishburne, a marketing cartoonist, said, “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” Maybe it’s time to re-prioritize each others privacy and invest in new ways for businesses to go to market.
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