Alternatives to Tracking Cookies: New Approaches to Audience Segmentation
Do you know that ad you get on social media after “just thinking” about buying something? You should know that it can and will be impacted by the end of cookies.
Context
Cookies are data files used to store information about user behavior during browsing. They were created in 1994 and quickly became widespread as a data collection tool for marketing within browsers. In 1997, discussions began about their use and how this could infringe on user privacy. In 2009, the first law restricting the use of third-party cookies appeared in Europe, the so-called “Personal Data Law”, the parent of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), showing an increase in this concern.
As the years went by and the complexity of digital marketing strategies and the use of cookies increased, laws were introduced to ban them and make it compulsory for browsers to ban them. In 2018 the GDPR came into force in the European Union, and in Brazil in 2020 the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) came into force.
Following this event, browsers quickly sought to adapt. However, Google in particular has shown greater resistance to compliance. It has repeatedly postponed the end of the use of cookies in its browser, Google Chrome. Initially promised to happen in 2022, then in 2023, we now expect it to be completed this year (2024).
However, it is a fact that, sooner or later, cookies will be completely banned and, to deal with this lack in the digital marketing landscape, the main players in the market have been preparing and developing some alternatives in recent years to continue segmenting and targeting audiences for ads.
That’s why DP6 is bringing you 4 of the main alternatives available on the market to circumvent the impact of the cookieless world and still guarantee an increase in your media performance with more targeted and profitable campaigns.
Main Alternatives
1. CDP
Customer Data Platforms are, as the name implies, consumer data management platforms. Their relevance in the market has increased since user data protection laws began to be discussed and their differential lies in the possibility of manipulating first party and PII data from users.
This data can be encrypted and sent to the main online media outlets to create personalized audiences without invading the user’s privacy.
Among the main CDPs on the market are Salesforce, Oracle and Treasure Data, which provide a series of features and ways to collect and share their users’ data in a protected manner.
2. CAPI
CAPI or Conversion API is a solution created by Meta to connect the advertiser’s marketing data. Whether it’s website events, offline conversion data or CRM actions, it can be connected to Meta’s platform to be used for campaign performance optimization and ad targeting.
To send the data in question, the API can receive pixel information from Meta, which is implemented directly on the website, from the Facebook SDK or from manual upload via CSV. Once the data has been uploaded, it can be used to generate audiences, optimize campaigns and even measure results without impacting user privacy.
3. Enhanced Conversions
This is a feature developed by Google that allows you to enrich the user’s conversion information within your platform by uploading 1st part hashed data in a way that preserves their privacy.
- Web type: Made with the data collected on your website and used to improve the measurement of your online conversions.
- Leads type: Uses more specific user data, such as email and phone number. It can be collected on the website or even in a CRM database and can be used, for example, to increase campaign performance.
Enhanced Conversions can be of two types: Web or Leads
In both cases, the tools used to implement Enhanced will be Google Tag Manager or Google Ads API, after which the use of this more personal data can take place without privacy problems.
4. Privacy Sandbox
This is an initiative that brings together various companies in the digital marketing market, such as Google, Yahoo, Xiaomi, AppsFlyer and others, with the aim of developing new technologies to get around the lack of cookies in the global digital market.
Its emergence comes as an alternative during the transition from the use of cookies to the cookieless world, since through its features it manages to gradually eliminate the need to use third-party cookies as new solutions are implemented.
Some of its features are:
- Protected Audience API: A tool that allows user data to be collected and grouped into interest groups anonymously so that advertisers can target their campaigns through these interests without identifying the user. Within this list of interests, Google promises to provide hundreds of interest groups that can be combined to ensure good targeting.
- Attribution Reporting API: This is a solution that allows ad conversions to be measured without infringing on users’ privacy. It allows advertisers to measure their conversions in various cases, such as: ad clicks and views, ads on sites that use a third-party ad technology provider, ads on social networks, ads on search results pages, among others, without using cookie information for tracking.
- Topics API: This is a mechanism that allows the browser to share information about the user’s interests with third parties. It is related to interest-based advertising (IBA) and its performance is based on observing and recording the themes or topics of interest to the user based on their browsing activity and providing adtech platforms with access to this information without revealing any other details about the user’s browsing activity.
- Private Aggregate API: A tool that allows developers to generate data reports by aggregating information from the Protected Audience API and shared storage sites. It uses an aggregation key and an aggregate value so that the browser generates an aggregate report that can be used to understand user behavior and simulate their journey without the need to use cookies to do so.
The market is buzzing with new features and opportunities to adapt to this new way of making digital ads. In addition to those mentioned above, there are several other possible features to get around the absence of cookies. That’s why keeping up to date is essential to ensure the best choice for your company!
If you have any doubts about which one best suits your business model, just contact DP6 and we’ll help you demystify this issue and keep your campaigns performing well in the cookieless era.
References:
Cookies and the future of internet advertising
Privacy Sandbox | Google for Developers
Profile of the Author: Larissa Rangel | Business Analytics Consultant at DP6 since 2021, with a degree in Textiles and Fashion from USP. Passionate about acquiring knowledge and discovering new things. Gen-Z enthusiast in the world of social media and CRM.
Originally published at https://www.dp6.com.br.
