Are you ready for a world without cookies?

Cookies have always been a major pillar of digital advertising. Despite being essential to the business model of a free Internet, cookies have been widely denounced by privacy advocates. Since 2017, we've seen browsers like Safari and Firefox eliminate third-party cookies. 

Indeed, as web servers do not have their own memory, cookies record the actions performed by the user. Thus, it is possible to analyze the behavior of the user to offer him a more personalized experience.

With privacy in mind, Google is committed to phasing out third-party cookies by 2023. This is a change that will shake up the advertising world. To understand its impact and how to prepare for it, you need to gain a more accurate understanding.

Types of cookies

First of all, there are several types of cookies, but 2 of them interest us more particularly:

1. The "first party" cookies

The "first party" cookies are the data recorded by the website that was visited. It allows the website owner to analyze the behavior of visitors by collecting analytical data. For example, identification information, language settings or shopping cart history.

2. Third party cookies

Third party cookies are mainly tracking data used for retargeting marketing purposes. With third party cookies we can therefore do:

• Cross-site tracking: collect browsing data from multiple websites to adapt our marketing strategies.

• Retargeting: targeting potential customers via web browsers with ads that have the potential to interest them, based on the products or services in which they show interest.

• Ad-serving: establishing a web advertising strategy based on user behavior. We define a precise target according to different criteria such as browsing behavior, age, gender, etc.

Technically, proprietary cookies and third-party cookies are the same type of file. The only difference is how they are created and used by websites.

Proprietary (1st party) cookies are generated by the host domain. They are generally well regarded, as they help provide a better user experience. These cookies allow the browser to remember important information about the user.

On the other hand, third party cookies are mainly used for tracking purposes and for online advertising

How do you know if you are ready?

To find out if you're ready for a cookie-free world, ask yourself the following questions:

Is the "first party" data compliant?

To ensure your data is compliant, you need to verify that it complies with national and international laws. The data must be stored legally by converting it into a hash list that guarantees the security of the original data.

Does the enrollment process build trust and commitment?

Consider redesigning the consent form. Make sure you have simple, easy-to-understand permissions, a link to the privacy and cookie policy, and the ability to accept or decline tracking.

Feel free to use your creativity in conveying the message, without compromising the clarity of the message.

Are you taking full advantage of your first-party data?

By using your first-party data lists across your entire network, you can find new prospects. To do this, set them up so that you can easily sync them across all advertising platforms.

Visit this article from Search Engine Land to learn more.

What are the alternatives to third-party cookies?

The first and most relevant alternative is the Privacy Sandbox. A solution offered by the Google Chrome browser that aggregates user data into cohorts. Using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, user behaviors are no longer individually targeted. By integrating behaviors into cohorts of individuals, the data remains anonymous.

It is then not possible for an Internet user to be identified among other Internet users within the same cohort, but the information is sufficient to carry out relevant targeting.

Another alternative is contextual targeting. Without relying on personal data, it is possible to exploit other data, such as keywords, website content, browsing device and browsing time. By analyzing this information, it is possible to target your audience according to the context of their web browsing.

This way of targeting works on the same principle as the more traditional media where, for example, a television ad featuring a sports shoe is shown during the broadcast of an outdoor program. So we stick our brand to a specific context and it is also possible to do the same thing on the web and it does not require any cookies.

Need help?

Having trouble understanding the impact of a cookie-free world? Or are you unable to set up a good ad campaign without third-party cookies? Delegate that task to the team of experts at Media Planning. We are always on the lookout for new developments and are ready to support you in these endeavors. 

Do not hesitate to contact us !