Announced by Google in 2022, then postponed, the end of third-party cookies will ultimately not take place in 2024. Postponed to 2025, it nevertheless foreshadows a break in digital practices, which many companies fear. But, what does this mean exactly? What are the concrete consequences for companies and marketing teams? How to prepare for the post-third-party cookie era? David Lelièvre, digital marketing expert, takes stock.
The deletion of third-party cookies on the Google Chrome browser is far from anecdotal. It marks a major turning point in the history of digital. Its objective: to limit the tracking possibilities of advertising players. Indeed, more than 70 % digital marketers rely on third-party cookie data, mainly to track their advertising investments. A windfall estimated at $679.80 billion in 2023 (according to Statista). The end of third-party cookies will force marketers to rethink their customer acquisition and loyalty strategies. It's up to them to find new ways to collect data and target their audiences.
Third-party cookies, what are we talking about?
The question of deleting third-party cookies is linked to the protection of personal data of individuals.
When an Internet user connects to a site, two types of cookies allow us to collect information about their navigation:
- on the one hand, first-party cookies, data created and used only by the website you are visiting to store your preferences, analyze and improve the user experience;
- on the other hand, cookies placed by other partner sites (generally advertising sites), called third-party cookies, allowing, among other things, advertising retargeting or the attribution of conversions to advertising agencies.
What is information collection?
- Information related to the behavior of the Internet user on the site: pages consulted, interactions with the site, traffic sources used, etc.
- Data deduced from its browser: geographical area, equipment used, etc.
What developments?
This information collection practice was the norm… until the entry into force of the RGPD (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018. This regulation imposed the prior consent Internet users for third-party cookies.
In other words, when you connect to a website, you must now be informed and give your authorization for parties other than the website in question to collect information about your browsing.
This trend was confirmed in 2018, when Apple initiated the elimination of third-party cookies with the launch of ITP (Intelligence Tracking Prevention). Firefox followed this initiative in 2019. On the other hand, Google, with its Chrome browser holding 70 % of market share, did not follow this trend, keen to preserve its advertising interests with Google Ads.
Google has extended the life of third-party cookies.
What alternatives to third-party cookies?
Since then, Google has tried to bring together all market players around new alternative solutions. Privacy Sandbox, Fingerprinting (cohort targeting), Single sign-on (SSO)… so many approaches that legislators are studying carefully to prevent a technical artifice from ultimately allowing the rules imposed by the GDPR to be circumvented. In short, a game of cat and mouse.
Alternative | Description | Benefits | Disadvantages |
First-party cookies | Cookies created by the visited site to store information about users. | Compliance with confidentiality rules. Improved user experience on the site. | Limited to interactions on a single site. Less effective for cross-site ad tracking. |
Local storage | Data stored directly on the user's device via the browser. | Larger storage capacity than cookies. Are not automatically sent to servers. | Less suitable for cross-site tracking. More complicated access for third parties. |
Fingerprinting | Unique identification technique based on browser and hardware characteristics. | Works without local storage. Difficult to block by users. | Considered invasive of privacy. Strict regulations and ethical issues. |
Server to Server (S2S) | Data exchange between servers without client intervention. | No browser dependency. Less prone to blocking by users. | Complexity of implementation. Need data sharing agreements between servers. |
Cohorts (FLoC, Topics) | Grouping users based on their interests rather than individual tracking. | More respectful of privacy. Useful for interest-based ad targeting. | Loss of precision compared to third-party cookies. Variable acceptance by industry and regulators. |
Contextual tracking | Targeting based on the content of the visited page, without collecting user data. | No collection of personal data. Compatible with privacy regulations. | Less precise than user-based targeting. Variable effectiveness depending on content. |
Single sign-on (SSO) | Single sign-on to access multiple services or applications (for example: Okta). | Improved user experience. Centralized management and better security. | Risk of centralized security breach. Complexity of implementation and management. |
What are the real consequences for businesses?
The disappearance of third-party cookies will have a strong impact on the advertising market.
There are therefore two major consequences for companies and marketing teams.
The precision of advertising targeting
On digital campaigns, the first consequence is, obviously, the continuation of reduction in the volume of available data. This has continued to decline over the past ten years. It is estimated that after 2025, only 10 % of the digital data available in 2015 will still remain available... which affects the precision and therefore the quality of advertising targeting (according to Atecna).
Thus certain practices such as retargeting are no longer accessible. Regarding the setting, it will for example be impossible to define impression limits for advertising advertisements (cap).
Measuring the impact of campaigns
The second consequence lies in the difficulty tracking campaign performance. Attributing conversions to each agency or platform will indeed be complex, unless you use techniques based on probabilistic calculations.
To summarize, the end of third-party cookies results in:
• decreased accuracy of ad targeting
• end of retargeting
• end of print limit measurement
• difficulty measuring conversions
What adaptations for businesses?
Should businesses prepare for a major upheaval with the end of third-party cookies?
On the advertisers' side, the end of third-party cookies does not seem likely to cause any major immediate changes. This is not a major concern to date and companies are waiting for the technical solutions that will emerge after this new one-year postponement.
New solutions are already emerging. Regarding conversion analysis, the server-side tracking presents itself as a relevant solution. This method allows companies to reclaim the data collected on their site, by capturing and internalizing all navigation information, and then sharing it with their partners. However, this solution must always respect the consent of Internet users.
In terms of advertising, despite Google's numerous delays, players have no other choice but to develop new solutions. Beyond hyper-contextualization, the advertising market will eventually agree on a new targeting standard compliant with the GDPR.
In the meantime, it seems essential for companies to better use their first-party data. The priority: better capitalize on their own visits, for example by improving their data management strategies.
Furthermore, recent developments in digital marketing have reduced the importance of traditional media approaches. Whether it's influencer marketing, retail media, personalization... many approaches allow other ways to interact with your targets.
A new opportunity to consider customer relations
Should we be worried about the end of third-party cookies? Certainly not. New techniques will offer to compensate for information losses. Companies will move towards greater transparency and respect for the privacy of Internet users.
In the end, two questions will remain to ask Internet users:
- Do you agree to share personal information to create value in our relationship?
- Do you agree that we share it with a few trusted partners to better serve you?
To summarize, it is therefore a question of transparency, respect for private life and a relationship of trust. The end of third-party cookies represents an opportunity to consider a new customer relationship.
