Schurq

The Cookieless Era (1/4): Trends & Developments

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Reading time 5 minutes
By Chantal Tol

One specific topic that affects every person worldwide is becoming increasingly important. Privacy. Ensuring and protecting privacy. In this case, especially online. Because of the global focus on this topic, most people know something about this in broad terms. But ask these people if they know exactly how and what personal data is collected from them and the answer is usually no. Do they know where this data is being stored? Often not, either. Therefore, in 4 blogs we are going to tell you as much as we can about the changes in privacy. "The Cookieless Era," as we call it, is nigh. And we're going to show you what that could look like for your organization.

een grote overgang

A transition to a new era is taking place; "The Cookieless Era." An era where third party cookies will no longer serve as the basis for collecting data on website visitors. It is expected that within two years, 80% of cookies will no longer be available. A large percentage. Why is this happening? What exactly does the demise of third party cookies mean and more importantly, how do you ensure a proper transition?

privacy developments

Let's start at the beginning. What is the reason The Cookieless Era is coming? This, of course, has everything to do with privacy. Not only the privacy of consumers, but also of companies and governments. That privacy, and especially its protection, is becoming increasingly important in society, we also notice in the world of online marketing. Data is important for online marketing. Without data, you will not be able to optimize your marketing activities.

data tells you what your target audience looks like

The data you collect through your online channels tells you who your target audience is, what they like and especially what they don't like. This gives you insight into which platform they are on and where their interests lie. Based on this, you can approach your target group with personalized content. Due to the increasing attention for privacy and its protection, the way in which data is collected, processed and stored is under closer scrutiny.

where it all began


Welke aandacht bedoelen we daarmee? In 2020 verviel het Privacy Shield dat tussen de Europese Unie en de Verenigde Staten was opgesteld. In deze regeling lagen afspraken vast over de bescherming van privacy van Europese burgers op het moment dat persoonsgegevens in de VS opgeslagen worden. Het bleek dat deze regeling niet voldeed aan de Europese AVG wetgeving.

A line through it, in other words. Any data transfer from European consumers to US servers suddenly became illegal as a result. In addition, the legality of the companies Google and Facebook would be endangered. The EU and US have been negotiating a new agreement for almost 2 years, but the end finally seems to be in sight. The so-called "Privacy Shield 2.0" has been concluded. US President Biden has signed an Executive Order. A framework that ensures free movement of personal data of EU citizens to the servers of U.S. tech companies.

Yet that is not the end of the matter. Privacy rights organization NOYB, led by Max Schrems, questioned the signing of the agreement and the creation of the Executive Order. It would not involve a court as defined in U.S. laws and regulations. Schrems stressed that this did not solve the core problem and that follow-up steps would be taken soon.

Are you allowed to be "tracked" by these browsers?

Not only governments are concerned with citizens' privacy. Large organizations such as Apple and Google Chrome also play smartly into this. For example, Apple gives users the option of not being tracked by default. The result of this update? Less trackable Iphone users. In addition, more and more third-party cookies are disappearing from browsers. Safari, Microsoft Edge and Firefox already block third party cookies. Google has announced it will ban third-party cookies from Chrome by the end of 2023 (UPDATE: This has since been pushed back to the end of 2024). Users can no longer be tracked through these platforms as a result.

Cookies


Een tijdperk zonder cookies. Wat zijn cookies precies? Een cookie is een klein tekstbestand dat door een website op het apparaat van een gebruiker wordt opgeslagen. Hierdoor is het niet alleen mogelijk gebruikers van elkaar te onderscheiden, ook het surfgedrag wordt verzameld en opgeslagen.

Third-party cookies are cookies collected by third-party platforms, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Setting third party cookies allows users to be tracked on third party platforms. This makes describing user profiles increasingly detailed. For organizations, collecting this data and viewing and analyzing it is also being made easier and easier. This also now seems to be coming to an end.

what exactly is going to happen?

Creating a secure online environment is becoming increasingly important. All forms of tracking and storage of personal data, use of cookies and digital fingerprinting are only allowed if the end user has given permission. Cookies in themselves are also harmless. The danger lies in the fact that cookies contain information with which users can be traced.

Thus, the disappearance of these third-party cookies means that we can track less and less behavior of Internet users. As a result, there will be less data available about them and the target groups they belong to. Not only will this allow you to target less specifically on attributes and behavior, retargeting and options for conversion-oriented campaigns will also disappear. So if a user has looked at a specific product on your website, you will no longer be able to retarget them.

Unknown person for Google
how do cookies affect your ads?

Speaking of ads: with the disappearance of third-party cookies, users will be tracked for less time and not across platforms and devices. Insight into ad performance will become less. For example, tracking the number of times someone sees an ad will be more limited.

The more individuals browse via IOS, Firefox and later Chrome, the more the relevance of this data will decrease. The same goes for an increase in use of adblockers. This will limit the ability to create detailed user profiles.

Alternatieven voor Third Party Cookies

Maybe you will think that the disappearance of third-party cookies means the end of your online marketing strategy. It doesn't! In fact, there are several ways in which you as an organization can collect data. Data that you as an organization can put to good use in deploying online marketing.

One of the main alternatives? First party cookies. First party cookies are placed on your own website, allowing the collection of visitor behavior on your website. The difference with third party cookies, is that with first party cookies data is not stored with third parties. You use the data you obtain from users navigating your website. The beauty of first party cookies is that they can be stored on your own server. You do this through server-side tagging. Ever heard of it? Server-side tagging is a way to collect and store data on your own server without forwarding it to third parties. Here you can decide yourself which of the personal data will be forwarded to a third party. Everything thus remains under your own control.

build customer profiles!

Build customer profiles with first-party cookies by using click behavior, for example, to reveal users' purchase history. How do you enrich these profiles? Simply by asking for them! Think about things like date of birth, demographics or interests. Collect data and store this data in customer data platforms (CDPs). Useful for when you start advertising through different channels!

maar er is meer…

Google will be working with Universal Analytics pros from July 1, 2023. Time for Google Analytics 4! Within the revamped GA4, there are opportunities to build audiences based on first-party cookies and machine learning techniques. GA4 is much more focused on privacy where personal data is anonymized by default and not linked to personal user profiles. This causes a partial loss of the detailed data as we are used to, but this can fortunately be overcome through server-side tagging. But, the Austrian Data Protection Authority has issued a second ruling and found that Google's IP anonymization is insufficient for data transfers between the EU and the US. We'll discuss this further in our next blog!

op naar het volgende onderdeel!

So. You are now a little more aware of what changes The Cookieless Era is going to bring. And changes, they are definitely coming. But rest assured that there are plenty of new developments we can leverage to collect data from your audience. From the deployment of Google Analytics 4 to Server Side tagging and the Facebook conversions API. We'll tell you more about these opportunities in the following blogs!

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Chantal Tol
Chantal Tol

About this schurq

Online Marketing Consultant

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