The History Of The Third-Party Cookie
It’s become an everyday part of life. One moment you’re casually browsing new computers online. The next moment, every website you go to is filled with ads for new computers. This is made possible by third-party cookies. For years, digital marketing has depended on these cookies to run ads online. But consumers haven’t enjoyed being targeted. They raised privacy concerns. This year, many browsers and operating systems have responded by making the decision to no longer share third-party cookies. How did this happen, and what does it mean for you as an online advertiser?
What is a Third-Party Cookie?
A third-party cookie is very simple. When someone goes to a website, ‘likes’ something on a site, searches for anything, their browser or device saves this data. It then shares this information with other sites and advertisers like you so you send your ads to only a specific kind of person.
People use technology all the time. And as they download an app, search on Google, shop on Amazon, like something on Facebook, more and more cookies accumulate. In other words, technology is constantly ‘profiling’ everyone. This information can communicate age, gender, location, ethnicity, career, in addition to likes and dislikes.
The pro for online advertisers is obvious. The most important part of marketing is knowing who your customer is. Technology made it extremely simple to target your exact audience without much effort. Social media advertising and other online ads allow you to enter all the demographic details about your ideal customer. After you create an ad, you can sit back knowing it will be delivered directly to the right people. Well, until this year, with the death of the cookie.
Public Concerns
Though advertisers have used this data in the name of serving more relevant content to people, for years many have brought up concerns on personal privacy. Believe it or not, most people don’t like knowing they’re being spied on. Not only that, it is not always clear when cookies are being collected and when they are not.
There are some ways to ‘delete’ this online profile built from cookies. Users can clear their browsing history and cache of cookies. There are also some ways users can increase privacy settings. However, cookies still continue to accumulate.
On the other hand, some consumers do not mind cookies. They like being served relevant ads and learning about new products they would like. If you had to watch an advertisement, would you rather watch one about a product you’d never buy, or on a product that’s exactly what you want?
Increasing Privacy
In the past few years, several companies have given options to increase privacy for their users. But this year marks the end of third-party cookies. The Apple iOS update makes users now opt in for their data to be tracked, Chrome has planned to stop tracking cookies, and Firefox and Safari have already stopped third-party cookies by default.
So, the online marketing game has changed. While this change will require a new online marketing strategy, it is not all bad news. First, consider the push back consumers have had to being watched. Would you like to buy from someone who follows you down the street saying “I know you love Dell computers, you should buy this one!”? Third-party cookies are a dream come true because they allow you to know all about someone and if they’re your ideal customer. But they do not always give someone the best first impression of your company.
For years advertisers have relied on third-party cookies. What should digital marketers do now? How can you find and target your ideal customer? We’ll cover this in our next article. There are new and exciting opportunities ahead for the digital advertiser.
