Wave Good-Bye to Third-Party Cookies
By 2024 Google plans on phasing out third-party cookies. Will this be the end of personalization?
Consumers always wonder how companies know so much about them, the clothes they were shopping for, the places they are interested in visiting, and more. Some even think that “they” are listening to what we are saying. I must agree that sometimes I get spooked by finding an ad on Instagram about something I was just thinking about. We have third-party cookies to thank for that.
Before we can start discussing the positive and negative impact of third-party cookies. We must understand the differences between first-party and third-party cookies.
First-party cookies are those coming directly from individual websites you visit. We can think of these are those cookies that remember your password, and preferences on this specific website. These are harmless because they are created by the website developers to better serve you on websites you visit, i.e., Amazon.
Third-party cookies are created by advertising servers, and they are installed in your browser to provide targeted ads. Your data is sold to multiple brands and ad servers. All in the name of personalization. Think of the time you were interested in buying new towels, but you didn’t end up ordering them, then the next few websites you visit will have ads about home décor/towels.
You must be asking yourself, why are brands/advertisers allowed to track us so much? Is that even legal? Well, yes and no. It feels a little too personal for some people. Advertising sales are one of the biggest (if not the biggest) ways for companies to make a profit. Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will result in $10 billion revenue hit this year.
Every update made to phones and on the web has a positive and negative impact on advertisers and consumers. As new regulations continue to emerge companies won’t be able to track users as much as they did before, and ads won’t be as personalized as they are now. But Google won’t remove third-party cookies all at once or without notice. Google has pushed the removal of cookies since 2019, (they now are saying 2024) to give companies a chance to develop new tracking and targeting methods.
The Privacy Sandbox is Google’s new initiative to “create technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses.” They are working alongside companies such as Adobe, Criteo, Samsung, and Yahoo Japan to name a few. Not only they are testing The Privacy Sandbox, but they are also working to update it and make it as relevant as possible for advertisers.
As both a web/mobile user and marketer a user, I’m weighting the positive from the negative and these are notes:
Positive Aspects of Third-Party Cookies Disappearing:
- Control over my personal data.
- “Free” web browsing. Not having someone watching over my shoulder with every click I make.
Negative Aspects of Third-Party Cookies Disappearing:
- Not understanding consumer behavior and preferences.
- Personalization of ads will be non-existent.
- “Trusting the algorithm” to bring me back to a product I forgot about.
Many will disagree with my stand on these changes, but I find more negatives than positives in the new regulations as both a user and a marketer. I do believe it’s time for a change in the way personal data is collected and sold, but I enjoy personalized ads. I like to say, I work really hard on my algorithm to be exposed to the things I enjoy seeing, and I would hate to see the internet for what it really is; a terribly overwhelming place.
