Advertisers have used third-party tracking cookies for the past quarter of a century to follow how people act on the internet. Most ad and marketing technologies utilize cookies to direct promotional efforts, to re-target users, to focus on display ads, and to run behavioral marketing efforts. Now, that’s all changing.
Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and Mozilla Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) are two smart cookie-blocking systems that prevent third-party cookies from being used. Additionally, Google Chrome will soon offer controls that let users choose to block cookies if they want. Cookies are quickly becoming obsolete due to the introduction of browser-level blocking, third-party ad-blocking applications, and new laws such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
It is generally believed that this marks a significant transformation in online advertizing. What implications does the demise of the cookie have for marketers and advertisers such as yourself? Should you abandon your promotional efforts and take up the art of depicting cats enjoying ice cream?
You can put away the paintbrushes for now. Change is on the way, but all the while, the way marketing is known will stay intact, even without outside cookies, and improved data sources are already in the works. Smell that? It’s the future of marketing.
What killed the third-party cookie?
Just as Apple got rid of Adobe Flash from the digital world (which no one apart from Homestar Runner experiences nostalgia for) they also were the first ones to break down the cookie structure. Mozilla and Apple have had restrictions on third-party cookie access for a period of time, but advertising networks have discovered methods to circumnavigate the safeguards implemented.
Apple incorporated Intelligent Tracking Prevention 2.2 (ITP) so as to close off any digital passageways and significantly stop from third-party cookies from gaining access to information. There was hardly any monetary value in digital ads, and the primary way that Apple was differentiating themselves from Google was through privacy safety. Mozilla’s Firefox browser, with its emphasis on privacy, has also implemented upgrades to its Enhanced Tracking Protection feature.
Both ITP and ETP are capable of avoiding third-party cookies from being saved in the web browser, and in order to thwart the strategy employed by promoters, they can stop third-party cookies from being logged as first-party cookies. Apple has gone a step further in Safari with their ITP2 feature which lessens the shelf-life of a first-party cookie from seven days to only one day. Both Safari and Firefox have these blockers enabled by default.
Why Chrome’s cookie blocking is the nail in the coffin?
Google earns revenue by gathering details on what customers search for, the movies they watch, the literature they consume, and what webpages they visit. Given Google’s strong presence in the field of advertising, and the fact that Chrome has over 60% of the share of web browsers, Google’s opt-in version of ITP will mark the end of cookies – possibly leading to legal issues with antitrust laws.
Google is very conscious of the results these actions will have, which is why they are deliberately promoting their cutting-edge privacy controls in a way that will be of advantage to the general public. Based on our findings, Prabhakar Raghavan, an engineering VP from Google, wrote in a blog post that people would rather have adverts that correspond to their preferences and requirements, as long as they are transparent, they are allowed to choose, and they have control over this process.
The company has been rather quiet regarding its plans when third-party cookies are not available. The key inquiry is if Google is going to do something to become the dominant force in the marketplace by introducing a replacement. Regardless of Google’s actions, its power in the digital space ensures it will shape the ad tech industry in the years to come.
How digital advertising can work without cookies?
Enough with the doom and gloom. What alternatives are available to you to acquire new customers and connect with your audience that do not involve the use of tracking cookies? Below are a few methods that can be employed to help you overcome your habit of eating cookies.
Contextual advertising
It appears that past ideas are being revived and contextual advertising is becoming popular once more. Jon Kagan, VP of search at Cogniscient Media, mentioned that they are not anticipating a decrease in either advertising costs nor in advertisement visits, rather they assume a rearrangement of financial plans. An alternative to cookies-based behavioral targeting that is also effective is any sort of keyword or keyword contextual-based advertising. In the past, people disregarded it and we backed away from the idea of targeting specific words, but now we need to return to this method.
Through using behavioral targeting, you may be served advertisements for martech platforms, ad agencies, and related organizations wherever you go online. However, from the perspective of an everyday customer, your primary concern is more likely to be knitting. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for you to receive ads for Marketo when you are on the Knitterly website showing your latest knitting pattern, which could take place if behavioral targeting is utilized.
The ads you observe are related to what you are viewing as opposed to what your general behavior pattern is. When viewing your knitting blog, promotions for knitting needles are visible, and when researching strategies to upgrade the click-through rate for your email newsletters, you will observe commercials for applicable email automation programs.
Using contextual targeting requires refocusing on creating and circulating content that is applicable.
People-based targeting
People-based advertising, first presented by Facebook, is predicated on a one-of-a-kind indicator that connects to the individual in question, not the machine or device being used. This approach does not use cookies from external sources to monitor users or accumulate information, enabling companies to contact people in the locations and periods they desire to interact with them.
A successful People-Based Marketing strategy boils down to these three key elements:
- Identification
Brands need to identify their customers and connect them correctly to their various devices. The goal here is to ensure persistent, cross-device recognition for a single view of the customer. If this single customer journey is not tracked well, it could lead to incorrect assumptions about customer behavior, thereby causing inaccuracies in data which ultimately cause ill-designed marketing campaigns. To avoid that, brands must be able to identify their customer across channels and devices. - Data
Today, brands have a plethora of data on each of their customers; from purchase data to email engagement to device information. The identification-first approach for customer data gives brands an upper-hand of targeting them effectively. Not just historical data, brands should also refer to real-time behavioral data like their device, their interaction with your website, their carts as well as the products and categories they visited while browsing. Linking together these data points allows brands to get a singular view of the customer. - Automation
Instead of relying on cookie-based data, People-Based Marketing automation relies on people-based targeting. It helps brands unlock a singular view of the customer, anchoring all of the data to a single source. As a result, brands can automate and omnichannel marketing approach across all devices under a single cohesive marketing strategy.
The big catch here is customer identification and data. Within the restricted surroundings of Google, Amazon, and Facebook, the user stays signed in and linked to these systems on any device. However, even if you are not a big-name company such as Google or Facebook, you still have access to excellent primary data sources.
First-Party Data is More Valuable Than Ever
Acquiring first-hand information will be increasingly essential as the use of third-party cookies diminishes. It is clear that Facebook, Google, and Amazon possess a massive edge, yet it must be noted that companies frequently have more data at their disposal than they may assume. Using information from customers who want to contact you is thought of as more ethical than purchasing and selling access to someone else’s consumer data.
An underutilized pool of information directly from customers could be located in your customer service line. When your customers phone you, it’s like they are communicating what they desire and giving you an insight into their manner of speaking. It is necessary to employ an automated system that is able to interpret the conversations of customers and decipher their meaning in order to practically sort conversations into useful digital collections. Invoca Signal AI is a technology that utilizes machine learning and predictive analytics in order to interpret the conversations of callers and transform them into useful marketing information.
Signal AI is capable of not just determining if a conversion materializes through a given call, but also possible to identify the caller’s motive (for example, check-up or sales) and potential stages to achieving a conversion. When you are familiar with the concept of a call, you can maximize your advertising for greater Return On Investment, which can be especially valuable when you are identifying the four-one-one on the exact words that should be sent to your targeted advertisement campaigns.
With Invoca, you can take all the data from your customer’s journey on digital platforms and combine it with the info from phone calls to form one comprehensive profile. Marketers can use online data collection and traceable phone numbers to figure out the link between digital campaigns and any reactions made to incoming calls. By having this data incorporated into the Invoca system, it gives you the capability to evaluate both electronic and telephone data all in one space and to have a more full perception of your clients.
How Cookie Blocking and ITP Effect Invoca Call Tracking Software
If you come to this meeting to discover how Invoca’s attribution data can be incorporated in call analytics, you will find what you need to know here. Invoca’s call tracking technology utilizes first-party cookies, which isolates it from the majority of blocking technologies and regulations.
Regulations that restrict cookie duration to seven days, or applications that reduce that to one day, will not have a disadvantageous outcome for most individuals who use call tracking. Our research shows that the majority of customers contact us within a period of sixty minutes after being shown a telephone number. Whenever someone returns to a website, browsers with blocking technology will reset the time limit for clearing cookies.
The release of iOS 14 brings about a significant change in cookie handling, with browsers specifically instructed to delete first-party cookies seven days after their installation. No matter what browser you are using on an iOS 14 device, first-party cookies will only stay active for a week, which includes cookies set by Invoca. This will not have a significant impact on Invoca users for a few reasons:
- Most Invoca customers use last-touch attribution, which does not rely on a long cookie persistence window.
- Most iOS users use Safari, which has had the seven-day cookie deprecation window in place for some time. Any impact this had has already been felt and addressed. The only new impact is for Apple users who use browsers other than Safari.
In a nutshell, the impending cookie apocalypse will have no major impact on the operation or success of Invoca. We, like many others in the marketing technology sector, are taking steps to reduce our reliance on browser cookies for attribution in order to ensure our technology is resistant to future developments.
Value, Transparency, and Choice Will Move Marketing Forward
It is understandable that the current situation seems daunting, yet we should remember that cookies have existed for the past 25 years and we will ultimately find a solution. It is evident that a multifaceted plan of attack will be necessary. Nevertheless, the marketing and advertising sector must endeavor to provide greater advantages to consumers by means of advertising, while also maintaining equilibrium between financial gain and privacy.
It appears that people are seeking a compromise between having a personalized experience and maintaining their privacy. The latest Harris Poll survey showed that the majority of shoppers deem personalization to be the expected standard of service. However, at the same time, people anticipate the option of not being monitored, receiving a non-personalized experience, and not viewing ads.
The days of finding workarounds are over. If marketers create advertisements tailored to the customer’s needs and don’t force it onto them, people will likely understand and accept it as part of their digital experience.
The most important consideration for any business should be the customer, and respecting their privacy must be a priority. Otherwise, the marketing industry will likely to face additional obstacles and criticism.
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