The way the cookie crumbles.
More than three years after first announcing their plan for third-party cookie deprecation, Google shook up the tech industry this month when they disabled third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users. This change was a result of Google launching their Tracking Protection feature that limits cross-site tracking and a test run to address privacy worries from users and regulators. Google has declared plans to disable all cookies from all users by Q3 2024.
Today, we’re looking at the background info you need to understand if these ongoing changes impact you and how your brand should take action.
TLDR: Depending on how you are targeting, Google’s ongoing decision to phase out third-party cookies could be a major shift for your brand. However, we don’t think cookies are completely disappearing in 2024.
Who does this impact? Yup, you guessed it. Advertisers and publishers who heavily rely on 3rd party data are going to be impacted the most—or about 75% of marketing and CX leaders, according to a study by Adobe (2023). Fortunately, Ammunition’s clients are in the clear. Our media team has always avoided 3rd party data in favor of more intent based strategies to better connect with the right audience.
How should you take action? If you or your team use solely or mostly 3rd party data from cookies, there are options so you can switch up your strategy to a cookie-free one. Check out these targeting methods and see which might work best for you:
⚡️️️Email marketing & gated content: Engage with users through email and provide your brand’s valuable content behind gates. Now brands can build a direct relationship with their audience all while gathering that essential first-party data.
⚡️️️Partnerships with trade publications for data access: Partner with trade publications to tap into your target audience while accessing user data without relying on cookies. A win-win for you and your brand.
⚡️️️Audience research & contextual data: Conduct audience research and study its contextual data—like the content around displayed ads—to obtain even more precise targeting.
What are our predictions? We’ve got a hot take for you - we don’t think cookies are completely disappearing in 2024. This update has been unfolding for more than 3 years and we expect the slow pace to continue. It’s also worth noting that in order for Google to disable 100% of cookies, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has to approve the change.
Google’s test is just one part of a broader shift in targeting methods. Ad manager, LinkedIn recently announced that it is discontinuing the ability to create a lookalike audience based on a CRM list of website activity. Campaign builders will need to turn to "predictive audiences" to broadly target users based on information gather from their profiles.
Striking Stats
⚡️️️48% of global advertisers and publishers believe that their revenue will increase after cookies are phased out. (Source: Statista)
️⚡️️️Over a third (34%) of US business leaders say they want to improve customer loyalty. (Source: eMarketer)
️⚡️️️By 2025, apps will account for nearly 93% of mobile activity. (Source: eMarketer)
Lightning Round: Team Updates
️️⚡️Looking to take your website’s SEO to the next level? Our strategy team released a 2024 SEO best practices guide. Click here to download.
️️️⚡️Hannah Job and Erica Brager celebrated their 1 year Ammoversaries. Cheers to the year ahead!