Lions, Tigers, No Cookies?! Oh My!

With the announcement of Google Analytics 4, came the terrifying news of the shift away from cookies, with Apple also following suit by modifications that drastically reduce the value of Identifiers for Advertisers (IDFAs).

Cookies are files that are created by the websites you visit. They facilitate your internet experience by preserving browsing information. Sites can use cookies to keep you signed in, remember your site choices, and provide you with locally relevant content.  Marketers utilize cookies to establish the interests of their target audience based on browsing activity, purchases, and preferences.

Seeing how losing these key pieces of data could be detrimental to creating successful ad campaigns, how will the marketers overcome this? In this article we’ll cover the shift away from cookies and how it will affect marketing as a whole. Let's get to it!

Where my cookie’s gone!?

Google claims that they are switching to GA4 because the market is changing, the technology is becoming antiquated, and it isn't keeping up with the changing approaches that are becoming more visible in the expanding ecosystem. GA4 also promises to assist uncover and predict new insights, as well as adapt to a changing ecosystem. One of the more significant changes is that it will transition to an event-based data model that will not rely just on cookies to supply user data. They will also no longer store IP addresses, preventing any future problems from arising if the data is compromised. This will allow for more user privacy, which is considered to be the primary goal.

With so much digital marketing activity reliant on third-party cookie data, the vast majority of the ad tech sector - as well as publishers, advertisers, and marketers - is in a mad dash to find viable alternatives. Alternative identifying methods based on non-cookie identifiers, such as email addresses, will be a critical component of non-Google technologies. However, the quality and volume of a company's first-party data will almost certainly influence the effectiveness of certain cookie alternatives, such as alternative ID technologies. As a result, many firms are adjusting their strategy to acquire massive amounts of dependable and accurate client data.

A world without cookies will have an immediate impact on the size of most third-party audiences (audiences whose data is collected solely through third-party cookies). Audience sizes will shrink to the point that they are no longer scalable for media buying activities, resulting in low conversion rates and meaningless targeting. This means that marketers must develop new audience analysis methodologies and rely on other marketing methods such as email marketing. Meanwhile, organizations that handle and sell advertising data must create alternative methods for securely collecting and aggregating audience data that do not rely on third-party cookies.

No More Cookies, How Will We Eat?

Although "a world without cookies" may appear intimidating to marketers and businesses accustomed to third-party cookies, there is some relief that just third-party cookies are being eliminated. First-party cookies will remain, as will chances for relevant advertising, audience segmentation, and personalization. The FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) method is one of the ideas. This technology seeks to aggregate people into big groups (cohorts) with similar browsing habits, and then target suitable adverts to them based on their attributes and interests. In this approach, the algorithm can combine individuals from big groups of people who share common interests. Companies would thus have access to cohorts rather than individualized data. Google also suggests increasing first-party data as an alternative to the "cookie-less future." In a world where privacy is valued, it is critical to develop close and direct interactions with clients rather than relying on third parties. This form of relationship, in terms of marketing, improves users' trust in businesses and provides them with a more meaningful and engaging experience throughout the buyer's journey. 

In a nutshell, more organic interactions with customers will become the main focus for most marketers moving forward, creating stronger relationships across the board, making the customer and company happy. 

Building crumbs into a relationship

With the transition from 3rd party cookies, Google suggests a 1st party cookie focus moving forward, even though most companies, up into recently, have been using 3rd party cookies to target customers across the web. What is a first party cookie, you might be asking; When a visitor visits your website, an automated code is generated and kept on their machine. Because it holds passwords, basic information about visitors, and other user preferences, this cookie is commonly used to improve user experience. For example, using first-party cookies, you may learn what a user performed on your website, how frequently they visit it, and other critical indicators that will assist you in developing or automating an effective marketing campaign around them. You cannot, however, see information about your visitors' activity on other sites that are not related to your domain. 

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