What is the ‘cookieless’ future?
The cookieless future is a shift in digital landscape where marketers now have to rely less on third-party cookies due to Google’s planned elimination of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. Third-party cookies are bits of information that collect web-user data which are placed on a website by someone other than the publisher or owner of the site. The role of third-party cookies have been significant in tracking users’ online activity to better target them with relevant ads. However, with the growing concerns about data privacy, this is a difficult yet a necessary move that Google has to respond to. Therefore, welcoming a new era in the sphere of digital marketing essentially means having websites to store users’ data using other identifiers like IP addresses or device IDs instead of personally identifiable information.
How to adapt in a ‘cookieless’ era?
While the move to a cookieless future may seem daunting and intimidating for advertisers, however there are in fact many other alternatives available that are also just as effective as third-party cookies. This would definitely require marketers to adapt their advertising approach and test out less intrusive technologies. The following are some solutions that marketers can look to adopt:
1. Prioritise and maximise first-party data collection
First-party cookie data is invaluable to marketers as it helps to enhance user experience and increase targeting opportunities. Some ways that marketers could look to expand reach could be the usage of more lead generation forms, re-engagement of lapsed customers or non-converting prospects or tap onto more channels and platforms. Further, as first-party data collection comes from direct sources, it provides accurate information about users without invading their privacy.
2. Contextual advertising
One of the most viable alternatives is contextual advertising. Contextual advertising refers to the practice of placing the most relevant ads on web pages based on the content of those pages. An example would be showing laptops on a tech ecommerce site.
Bibliography
O’Brien, C. (2022) Why first-party data is more important than ever and how to use it, Digital Marketing Institute. Digital Marketing Institute. Available at: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/why-first-party-data-is-more-important-than-ever-and-how-to-use-it
Riley, A.Q. (2022) Cookieless Marketing: How to adapt your marketing mix, Learn Hub. Available at: https://learn.g2.com/cookieless-marketing#marketing-alternatives-to-third-party-cookies
Stewart, H. (2022) The cookieless future: Why are cookies going away?, Learn Hub. Available at: https://learn.g2.com/cookieless-future
