End of cookies: New marketing strategies

Following announcements by various browsers to phase out third-party cookies, a major shift is underway in digital marketing. Although Google Chrome reversed its decision by canceling the removal of third-party cookies, this reversal doesn't mean third-party cookies are a viable long-term solution.

Third-party cookies, generally used for targeting purposes, can no longer be the sole method for conducting marketing.

The move towards a “cookieless” environment isn't new and stems from the growing demand for greater privacy and respect for user consent online.

The various restrictions on third-party cookies raise an important question:

👉🏼 In this article, we will look at practical alternatives to help ensure a smooth transition to an era of effective digital advertising without compromising privacy, addressing the challenges of the cookieless environment.

As the web has evolved, third-party cookies have played a significant role in the world of digital marketing. These small scripts, placed on your devices by entities you haven't directly visited, allow advertisers to personalise ads based on your browsing habits, interests, geographic location, or purchase history. For example, when reading an article on a news site, it’s common for a third-party cookie to be used by an advertiser to target their ads.

However, the use of these third-party cookies raises significant concerns regarding privacy protection as they enable tracking of a person's browsing across different sites. Additionally, they collect personal information, posing risks to individual freedom and security.

In light of these concerns, the web industry is moving towards limiting or even eliminating third-party cookies.

Here are the key moments marking this shift:

While the decline of third-party cookies appears to be a challenge for marketers, it’s important to note that these same cookies already revealed certain limitations in the advertising context. Indeed, third-party cookies are not without flaws and did not guarantee an optimal advertising strategy that respected users.

Here’s an overview of the main disadvantages associated with third-party cookies:

We are thus witnessing a gradual shift on the web towards a model without third-party cookies, disrupting long-standing practices in digital marketing. Google's announcement doesn’t change this, as both users (through ad blockers and consent) and other browsers are blocking these cookies.

Today, over 70% of browsing is no longer associated with third-party cookies.

So, what are the cookieless alternatives, and how can they be adopted?

👉🏼 We will explore these questions in the following sections of this article.

With the gradual decline in the use of third-party cookies, marketing professionals, publishers, and advertising platforms are compelled to seek alternative means to continue offering targeted, personalised, and effective advertising. Several solutions are available, each with its own advantages and challenges.

If you need a more detailed content, do not hesitate to download our complete guide to third-party cookies!

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This method aims to identify users without relying on third-party cookies, using other techniques such as fingerprinting, authentication, universal IDs, or cross-site IDs. These techniques facilitate recognising a user across different sites or devices and allow them to be served ads that match their profile and behavior.

However, it’s important to note that these strategies raise significant privacy concerns, as they involve collecting personal data without explicit user consent and may be challenged by regulatory actions or browser settings.

Cohort targeting groups users based on shared traits or interests without individually identifying them. This allows targeting market segments while preserving individuals' anonymity. Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a notable example, aiming to replace third-party cookies with technologies based on anonymous user groups and contextual signals.

Despite its potential, this method is still in the testing phase and is struggling to convince. Questions persist regarding its effectiveness, its impact on competition, and its long-term viability given the continued use of third-party cookies in Chrome.

Contextual targeting selects ads based on the content of the site visited by the user without using personal data. This approach ensures that ads align with the content viewed by the user, thus respecting their privacy. Although an older method, it’s regaining popularity in the face of third-party cookies' obsolescence.

However, it does not consider users' specific preferences or intentions, which can reduce its effectiveness compared to personalised targeting.

This approach involves directly collecting user data through their consent, then transmitting it to advertising platforms for personalised ad targeting. First-party data, obtained directly by the site or application visited by the user, offers higher quality, precision, and privacy compared to third-party data.

However, this strategy requires a rich and qualified database, as well as compliance with data protection regulations.

Collecting data is crucial for better understanding your customers and determining which marketing strategies to implement... But it’s even better to use this data directly in advertising platforms!

For this purpose, most media platforms have developed Conversion APIs, allowing the transmission of any event data. This makes it possible to share 100% of the information (online and offline) with media platforms, optimising advertising algorithms.

First-party data strategies can help you save a lot of marketing budget!

Third-party cookies were also used to measure the performance of marketing campaigns. New cookieless measurement methods are emerging today as essential solutions.

These approaches rely on advanced tools and statistical models to assess campaign effectiveness. For example, Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) stands out by offering the ability to analyse the impact of various marketing channels on sales using aggregated and historical data.

This method is not only effective for calculating ROI (Return On Investment), but also helps optimise budget allocation.. However, it has certain limitations, such as its inability to measure short-term campaign effectiveness and to capture individual consumer journeys.

The end of the third-party cookie era is a reality (despite Google's announcement!) that the digital world has been grappling with for some time, and this shift is accelerating as major browsers continue to phase out these trackers.

Advertisers are now compelled to reinvent personalised advertising methods to remain effective without infringing on users' privacy. Several strategies are emerging as alternatives to third-party cookies, including personalised targeting without cookies, cohort targeting, contextual targeting, injecting first-party data directly into platforms, and adopting new measurement approaches.

DinMo helps you activate your first-party data across all your marketing destinations to succeed in a cookieless world. Feel free to contact us to learn more!