What does a future without cookies look like? Will the lack of tracking data starve businesses, or will the shift give rise to new marketing strategies? The latest tracking chatter comes after Google finally implemented its third-party cookie policy. Plans to limit the way websites can track user activity came into force on January 4, 2024. The initial rollout will see 1% of Google Chrome users get a third-party cookie-free experience. Then, after the initial testing phase, Google plans to restrict third-party cookies by default for 100% of Chrome users.
Search Engines Are Reacting to Privacy Concerns
Google isn’t the first company to restrict cookie usage. Firefox updated its system in 2023. However, the move by Google is more significant as Chrome accounts for more than 65% of the world’s browser usage. Marketers have long used cookies to track user preferences and adjust their campaigns accordingly. The result has been targeted ads and a more personalized browsing experience.
In specific terms, third-party cookies allow websites to offer the best experience by providing product recommendationsWebsites using cookies can also remember passwords (so you don’t have to) and tailor offers, such as bonuses, based on your activity. These things happen in casino gaming, shopping, social media, and many more industries. However, with privacy an ever-present concern for most internet users, major search engines have responded.
That means the 83% of marketers who use cookies, according to Statista data, will need new ways to track user behavior and create personalized experiences. Does this mean the end of personalization? Indeed, as G2 contributor Hannah Stewart pointed out in her 2022 article, The Cookieless Future, consumers are concerned about privacy, but they “still want personalization.” Google and marketing companies understand this, which is why new solutions will come to the fore.
New Ways of Tracking Will Emerge
Google has created a Privacy Sandbox that locks user data within their Chrome browser. Traditional third-party cookies are stored on a user’s device, which means all of their activity can be tracked, even if they’re not using a search engine. Companies can link into the sandbox and use the data to personalize ads without compromising existing privacy laws, such as GDPR. Another potential way of tracking user data is Google Topics.
Tests carried out by MIT scientists found the Topics’ predecessor, the FLoC algorithm, was insufficient when it came to anonymizing data. Topics API addresses those flaws by putting anonymized user data into groups (aka cohorts). These groups would then be categorized under different categories (profiles). Marketers would then be able to use tracking data to personalize experiences for people based on the cohorts they fall into.
Something else that will become more significant following the demise of third-party cookies is first-party cookies. Companies will have to get better at collecting and analyzing their cookie data. That’s where marketers can come into their own and get creative. The end of third-party cookies will change the game, but it doesn’t mean the end of personalization. Companies will continue to monitor user activity because it’s the most effective way to offer a better overall service. However, the ways they track activity will have to be more in line with our expectations of privacy.
