By Jonathan Baker Last week, Google announced it was halting its planned phaseout of the third-party tracking practice, better known as “cookies.” What does this this mean to marketers who’ve already been implementing alternative ways to connect with customers? Positions of publishers A number of publishers who followed Google’s original directive and shifted away from cookies to options such as first-party data were interviewed by Digiday about this sudden change. This Digiday article notes that many of those who commented requested to remain anonymous, which may indicate the divide among those who are “anti-cookie” against those “pro-cookie” publishers. Those who have changed over to alternate marketing strategies will continue to do so. Uphill battle? These publishers feel that Google’s about-face decision was disappointing. They are frustrated at having spent time, energy, and effort into making this change. Adding injury to this insult is how the Privacy Sandbox alternative—targeting ads but not collecting user information—may result in anywhere from a 30 percent to 60 percent decrease in ad revenue due to poor performance. Despite this development, Google promises to continue supporting and fine-tuning Privacy Sandbox. Whether this is a show of Google advocating a cookie-less Internet is open to opinion. Despite any feelings of frustration, these publishers don’t regret their decision, if only for one possible development in the future… Past and present signs lead to alternate targeting solutions Publishers noted that, even before Google’s decree in 2021, there was a noticeable deprecation of cookies in other browsers. Alternate first-party solutions—aside from the current state of the Privacy Sandbox—have in fact improved their revenue in connecting with customers. With this in mind, these publishers plan on forging ahead to test and improve on new solutions such as: Data collaboration Contextual targeting Universal IDs Curated marketplaces Google’s current stance is that users have the choice to opt in to third-party tracking. If these practices become stronger and promoted, will cookies eventually vanish—whether or not Google says so? (Let’s remember that Google initiated the phaseout of third-party strategies because of privacy complaints from users.) And where future revenue is concerned… Cookie-enabled inventory equals limited return Justin Wohl, who is CRO of Snopes and TV Tropes, theorized to Digiday that, over time, if a portion of Google users choose first-party data and opt out of cookies, the result will be a finite inventory of third-party-enabled data. This ultimately may lead to a mandatory need for marketers who have not abandoned cookies to invest in the solutions listed above. Time will tell… Words to remember: “adapt” and “pivot” The latest developments from Google are proof of the cliché: “Nothing lasts forever.” And because nothing lasts forever, professionals need to be able to adapt and pivot when necessary in order to thrive. We don’t mean to take sides, but those publishers who have adopted first-party data or another alternate marketing solution are likely to thrive. Do you feel that your brand needs a change in order to succeed? Reach out to EGC for help. We will teach you how to pivot and prosper.
