The Party’s Over for Third-Party Cookies. What’s Next?

Third-party cookies, those tiny digital pixels that track the shopping habits of your customers on the internet, will be nothing but a memory in late 2023. They’ve been invaluable when it comes to reaching those customers who’ve been shopping on a site and then leave their cart, as well as converting those first-time shoppers who eventually become loyal customers. You might be asking just what is a third-party cookie?

Third-party cookies are created by domains other than the site the user might be visiting at the time. For example, your business places an ad through a third-party network. Your ad will appear on various websites. Once the user clicks on the ad and comes to your domain, the third-party cookie is placed. Their sole objective is to track shoppers for online advertising purposes. 

So, what can your company, small business, or startup do when it comes to these changes? One of the first things is familiarizing yourself with the recent knowledge concerning privacy. Tracking and targeting a user’s behavior for advertising purposes has become a source of contention. Quite simply, customers are tired of being tracked as they visit one website or another. Today’s user is looking for a more private and transparent brand experience. Awareness at all levels, consumer, regulator, and government is moving toward this change. So, how can you continue to connect with your e-commerce audience going forward?

To begin, it’s important to remember not all cookies are disappearing. First-party cookies, those created by the host domain, are considered good and help provide a much better, more acceptable user experience. As a company or a business, you should continue to leverage this valuable resource. 

Next question...is there a way to replace the ability to retarget those interested in your products or services, while honoring their privacy? Say hello to FLoC (Federated learning of Cohorts). It’s a novel way to reach groups who share like interests, giving members a certain anonymity and their website history is kept private through on-device processing. 

Another viable option is FLEDGE. This API (Application Programming Interface) enables you to target an ad without disclosing your audience’s interests, thus ensuring their need for privacy. It was originally named “Turtledove” but has since been upgraded and refined. As long as you are utilizing your own first-party data you will still have the option of reaching your specific audience. 

In the future, the smartest, most respected brands will do everything they can to win their audiences’ trust when it comes to their request for privacy and anonymity. Perhaps it’s time for contextual marketing, which means creating and placing ads beside content they are currently viewing. Content that attracts versus turning off an interested audience.

To find out more about how Maycreate can help you prepare for the future of effectively reaching your customers through online marketing and advertising, contact John Wagoner, Maycreate’s brand strategist and account supervisor. You can reach John at jwagoner@maycreate.com or call him at (423) 255-9961