One of the Few Times Consumers Say No to Cookies
While I have strong opinions about a lot, I am on the fence — being both a consumer and a future marketer — about a cookie-less future. As a marketer, I see the need for cookies, at least necessary ones related to user experience. However, as a consumer, I tend to “Decline all Cookies” when given a choice. On a good day, I would “Accept Necessary Cookies Only”, but those days are far and few between. The reason, generally, is to protect my privacy. Though, one can argue otherwise that declining cookies can only do so much to protect one’s privacy.
A Cookie-less Future Isn’t the End for Marketing
Some would say that today, data is more valuable than oil. As a marketer, first-party data is essential and is sometimes considered to be better quality data that is up-to-date, affordable, and accurate. Emails, mobile apps, surveys, and questionnaires on companies’ websites provide an easy way to receive this type of data. With a cookie-less future on the horizon, this provides companies the opportunity to build on their strategies to acquire first-party data, like through email marketing. It allows the user to choose what information they provide, allowing for a higher level of privacy while also giving marketers the data they need. The downside here is that the information provided by consumers could also be inaccurate at times.
One potential upside to companies being unable to track user behavior through cookies is that the number of spam emails a consumer receives may reduce. However, if companies choose to test out different email-marketing strategies, this could be further debated.
Additionally, if cookies are phased out, advertisements would no longer be interest-based. Consumers will slowly start to see more contextual advertisements based on the type of website they are browsing. If you’re browsing through an article on Forbes, it is assumed that you are interested in business and the advertisements you see would be to the likes of that. I’m unsure how I feel about that though as a lot of the time I am on websites for the sole purpose of research — and not always due to my interest in the topic.
Higher Cost of Conversion
Cookies provide an easy way for marketers to receive data about consumer habits, browser history, and consumer age groups. While data received is encoded using match codes and user IDs, cookies provide marketers the opportunity to receive personally identifiable information (PII) allowing them to segment and market better to consumers. A cookie-less future may result in marketers having to pay more to acquire consumers.
Is Cohort-Based Clustering the Future?
Google piloted a cohort-based clustering model on Chrome called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). In simple terms, based on one’s browsing patterns, each consumer is grouped into a larger cohort. Each group is assigned a unique cohort ID. This data is then acquired by companies based on certain set parameters.
This cohort-based clustering allows marketers to obtain non-PII that cannot be tied back to a single user. It provides only aggregated results and not individual user data. The information received is about the activities of groups and not the individual itself. It also provides a smaller pool of consumers. This could be both a pro and a con. A smaller pool allows for better targeting but could also result in missed opportunities for the consumers not captured in this pool.
FLoC, however, is not GDPR compliant so Google then went on to introduce Topics. Google has identified 300 topics and consumers will be assigned into groups within these “topics” based on their browsing patterns. This would exclude sensitive topics like race and religion. However, the verdict is not out yet on whether Topics will be successful or not. It is also uncertain what happens if the “topic” of a website is outside of the 300 topics Google has identified. Additionally, it has not been established whether creating clusters of consumers of this sort will result in greater revenues or not.
So, Where Do We Go From Here?
A good question, but I believe the answer is uncertain. From what I’ve learned, cookies may provide a cheaper alternative to acquiring data that may otherwise — and with new methods — be more expensive to acquire. As a marketer and someone who has a keen interest in consumer behavior, I believe acquiring data is essential to better understand consumer interests, which, in turn, helps companies better market to consumers. However, as a consumer, while I wouldn’t mind companies having certain types of demographic and psychographic information about me, I would also like that their methods to acquire this be non-intrusive.
Additionally, Google ad spends are what help keep browsing free. A cookie-less future could mean that Google charges a premium for products and/or users could potentially have to pay to browse the web. While that may still be a while away, it is still something to consider.
