Google recently announced yet another delay to the long-anticipated sunsetting of 3rd party cookies in Chrome, from the end of 2024 to sometime next year. While this provides more of a runway for marketers, when the change comes, it will impact more than half of all internet users – yes, you read that right. With user privacy in the spotlight, marketers must pivot strategies. How should you or your clients adapt? Here’s a breakdown and proactive approach from the data experts at Matter.
Why is Google doing away with 3rd party cookies?
With privacy becoming of an increasing concern for consumers and legislators, Google and other browsers are doing away with 3rd party cookies in an effort to give users more control over their personal data on the internet.
What is the difference between 1st and 3rd party data?
Website owners and publishers capture behavioral data on their web properties through cookies and other mechanisms that bounce information back and forth between a website and a user’s browser. This is considered 1st party data, which users are nowadays prompted to opt-into. Third party cookies, however, pass data to a 3rd party (such as an advertiser for the brand) in order to personalize, target and measure activities for individual users elsewhere on the internet.
What does this mean for marketers and what should they do to mitigate impact?
As audience behaviors become more opaque, the cost of reaching consumers will go up. Marketers will need to find ways to adapt and stretch their ad dollars, with success hinging upon finding efficiencies through:
- Balancing budgets between the Google and other ad exchanges
- Buying directly with publishers or through Private Marketplaces (PMPs)
- Leveraging 1st party data to re-engage customers and build loyalty
- Making use of 2nd party data to reach prospective customers
- “Contextually” targeting lookalike audiences on other sites
How have we prepared for the deprecation of 3rd party cookies?
Matter is well positioned and ahead of the curve for this impending change, already coaching our clients on the appropriate media mixes and targeting tactics in line with the above strategies. Our analytical approach to buying ad space leverages 1st party data, as well as other tools available in our tech stack, to gather as much behavioral data as possible to better understand consumers and continue to engage them through marketing activities. Additionally, we ensure that all contracts with external vendors comply with country regulations and indemnify the agency and its clients against infractions.
We will continue to remain at the forefront of this conversation, monitoring policy announcements and advising best practices on behalf of our clients. While the topic of data privacy is constantly evolving, you can reach our dedicated team directly at analytics@matternow.com to address any questions or concerns your organization may have around the use and protection of customer data.