Feature
The Gist
- Cookie conundrum. Cookie phase-out in martech solutions is escalating.
- Privacy prioritization. Google's Privacy Sandbox offers a grace period for marketers to experiment and adapt.
- Future focus. Finding cookie-less solutions that protect data and enhance customer experience will be a long-term focus for marketers.
Buzz is a fleeting part of the digital marketers’ daily online dialogue — a concept here today may not be talked about tomorrow. Despite the buzz around topics such as AI, marketers are still discussing cookies — more specifically, third-party cookies — today.
Cookie Phase-Out
The announcement from Google regarding the removal of third-party cookies from 1% of Chrome activity, coupled with the expanded availability of the Privacy Sandbox API, indicates that the deprecation of third-party cookies in martech solutions is picking up steam.
A notable analytical takeaway from this news is the timing of the developer options being introduced. Google has strategically scheduled the Privacy Sandbox API to allow the opportunity for solution experimentation prior to initiating the 1% deprecation. By doing so, Google is encouraging marketers to vet their tools during a grace period. Given the complexity of managing data, marketers appreciate this grace period to effectively implement analytics technology that enhances customer experiences.
A Cookie-Filled Analytic History
Google understands the value of a gradual launch. It debuted Privacy Sandbox last year, followed by a small rollout to Android users. Privacy Sandbox allows marketers to develop testing of analytic solutions in a cookie-less environment. It is part of an overall strategy of creating open standards for measuring user activity while protecting customer data privacy. Privacy Sandbox replaces cookies with browser APIs and trust tokens as the key measuring mechanisms for third-party systems.
Cookie-Based Measurement
Cookie-based measurement has been an efficient online way to interpret customer intentions and digital experiences. Cookies retain metadata related to key browser activity. Analytics adopted cookies to distinguish users who are returning to an app or website.
Browser Metadata & Fraud Risk
However, when it comes to third-party cookies, the data flow can lead to peculiar assumptions. For instance, if you browse a retailer's online shirt section, you'll start seeing ads for shirts almost everywhere you go on the web, including in social media related posts. This happens because cookies retain browser metadata, remembering aspects of your browsing activity.
Additionally, there's the potential risk of consent fraud, where users are misled about the true purpose of data collection on the sites they visit. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 remains a prominent example of such digital fraud and its significant consequences.
Google’s Balancing Act
The launch of the Privacy Sandbox initiative has underscored Google's delayed response to the industry's shift away from third-party cookies. Two major browsers — Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox — have been blocking third-party cookies since 2019. Google's slower pace can be seen as a balancing act, trying to appease concerns among digital advertising executives that moving away from cookies will obstruct the marketing analysis of customer behavior. Surveys conducted within the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on these concerns.
Related Article: What Does Marketing Look Like Without Third-Party Cookies?
What Should Marketers Do?
So, if you are a marketer charged with analytics, what should you be doing to best leverage the latest updates?
Auditing the Analytics Stack
One crucial “to-do” task for marketers is auditing the analytics stack for influences from cookie-based solutions. It’s essential for marketers to understand how their primary analytics tools measure session and visit metrics. Reviewing basic tech reports can reveal how much of their website and app traffic comes through browsers where third-party cookies have been phased out. But given that Google Chrome dominates the browser market, checking a tech analytics report may yield little insight.
Don’t Forget Supplementary Measurement Solutions
This process also necessitates auditing any supplementary measurement solutions that use third-party cookies. Numerous marketers currently employ software to enhance their main analytics tools. Which dashboard features rely on these solutions? Seeking alternatives means that end users who depend on these dashboards will be impacted.
Focus on Predictive Analytics
Marketers should focus on identifying features that have predictive analytics at their core. Many leading analytics solutions are adopting machine learning features that extrapolate forecasts from a small data sample. Examples of such samples could be a few visitor activities on a website page or actions leading to a conversion on an app. Google Analytics 4, for instance, uses machine learning in its predictive metrics to identify purchase and churn behavior based on website data. Therefore, introducing a trial period for marketers to explore new solutions is a smart extension this exploratory philosophy.
Understand Tracking Mechanisms
The alterations in cookie usage should further prompt marketers to understand which tracking mechanisms introduce a personal identifier within a data privacy framework. This means that setting alerts for metadata that can be traced back to an individual or a Google user account should be an important focus.
At face value, many identifiers are just a random harmless ID. How platforms combine those identifiers with other data is important to revealing potential privacy compliance concerns. A workflow with several platforms and data sources often blends data and identifiers when attribution metrics or retargeting campaigns are examined. Benign data can become sensitive data when names, email addresses and phone numbers are added. The result is personally identified information that must be protected and meet compliance guidelines.
Blending Data & Privacy Concerns
A mishap in data processing can result in consent fraud, akin to the situation in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This could manifest as users being automatically opted into cookie tracking, thereby infringing upon the user's informed choice to opt-in. Thanks to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), now five years old, customers are now demanding no tracking without giving explicit consent. Brands now risk their reputation by claiming that customer privacy is maintained, when in reality, a data system that indiscriminately blends data serves the contrary purpose.
Data Collector vs. Processor Roles
So, the question marketers should pose is: How do privacy authorities perceive their business when third-party solutions gather, store and dispose of data? The answer impacts the data collector versus processor role, which must be identified for compliance. It also underscores why marketers should tread cautiously and consider the scope of a consent process.
Managers should ask questions such as: what kind of consent is sought on a website or app, how are users identified within cross-device activity, and at what point in the process does the opt-out occur. Framework development milestones like Privacy Sandbox are providing opportunities for marketers to pose these kinds of questions.
Related Article: Google Ending Cookies Tracking for 1% of Chrome Users in Early 2024
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Final Thoughts on the Cookie Pivot
Marketers should not expect third-party analytics solutions to go immediately away because of the cookie pivot. Solutions with different measurement protocols are already on the market. Marketers should consider news like the Privacy Sandbox as opportunities to adjust their martech stack, especially as other tech transitions such as the Universal Analytics sunset are now in play.
The buzz for analytics these days — identifying which cookie-less solutions best safeguard customer data while enhancing customer experience — will engage marketers for years to come.
