Third-party Cookies: What are they and why has Google decided to keep them?

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Third-party cookies have played a fundamental role in the development of digital advertising. Why? They have allowed advertisers to track user behavior across websites to deliver personalized, targeted advertising. 

These cookies make advertising much more effective. However, they have also been at the epicenter of growing concerns about the relationship of user privacy, leading to a sometimes heated debate about their use and regulation. 

For some time, there was a growing expectation that Google, the most used browser in the market, to announce the elimination of third-party cookies. The decision also sought to align itself with the data regulation and security regulations that are covered by the GDPR and the CCPA. 

This announcement was expected industry-wide.

Plot twist: Google decides to keep third-party cookies… at least for now. 👀

What Does This Mean For You? 

Well, there won’t be a major change in terms of ad personalization. 

However, for brands, third-party cookies pose a need to be very mindful of striking a balance between targeting, data usage, and the growing demand for transparency and privacy. 

Striking the balance between using third-party cookies to effectively target your audience, whilst respecting user privacy, is key to effective advertising. 

A Little Background on Third-Party Cookies 🍪

Cookies are small text files found on websites that remember your preferences. These files are intended to improve your browsing experience. We could say that cookies work like this: when you visit a website, it can send a cookie to your browser. The next time you access the same site from any device, the browser will send the cookie back to the server, and the website will be able to recognize the information from the first visit. 

Mainly, there are two types of cookies:

• Session cookies that are automatically deleted when you close your browser; and
• Persistent cookies that, as the word indicates, remain for a longer period.

They are used to remember long-term preferences such as language or even font size.

Now, third-party cookies are small pieces of data that are stored in the user’s browser by different domains than the site being visited. While first-party cookies are generated by the website itself, third-party cookies are created by other sites that are integrated with the main site, either as advertisers or as analytics providers.

Thanks to these cookies, companies can collect information about user behaviors and preferences, across different websites. 

For example: when you visit an online shopping website, the site uses first-party cookies to remember your selections and keep your session active. At the same time, third-party cookies are used in tandem by ad networks and analytics firms to monitor your online activities. Third-party cookies, for instance, gather information when you browse a jacket on that website and use it to show you advertisements for the same or related products on other websites you visit. Advertisers can show you more relevant ads based on your interests by employing this tracking, which increases the likelihood that you will make a purchase.

How the Third-Party Cookie Crumbles…

Despite Google’s initial plans to eliminate third-party cookies, the decision to keep them is largely driven by their role in digital advertising and marketing. Third-party cookies remain essential for targeting, displaying personalized ads, and collecting data that is accurate and speaks to user behavior. However, it is necessary to know a little about the reasons that played a fundamental role in a decision that seemed to be imminent.

User privacy

It’s undeniable, in the digital marketing world, how important the use of third-party cookies has been for the collection of data and their subsequent use in the creation of hyper-personalized campaigns. 

However, some are arguing that their excessive use could be infringing on users’ rights to privacy. Since third-party cookies allow companies to track the content that users are looking for, giving them information about their behavior and thus obtaining detailed profiles without their explicit consent. 

Regulations

Another key argument raised in the ‘cookie debat’ was the introduction of privacy regulations on third-party cookies. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are important examples of how governments are taking stricter measures regarding user security. As for the European regulation, companies must obtain clear and explicit consent from users. Similarly, the CCPA allows users to know what data is being collected, giving them additional privacy rights. 

Advertising Innovation

The introduction of third-party cookies made it easier to target your audience accurately. Less unnecessary ad spend, lower CPA, higher ROI. However, it may also represent a valuable opportunity to innovate advertisements and how they are placed online. Google has taken it upon itself to develop alternatives that serve as a balance between the needs of privacy and the demands of advertisers. Privacy Sandbox is an example of an initiative that seeks new forms of advertising but without the involvement of third-party cookies. Instead, Privacy Sandbox proposes solutions such as the Topics API and FLEDGE that are more privacy-friendly. These efforts seek to create a more secure and private environment, but with technologies that maintain advertising efficiency. 

Briefly,

• Topics API: Topics API works differently from Google third-party cookies. This technology classifies the user’s interests according to the visits they make to different websites. Subsequently, these interests are classified according to general topics such as sports, fashion, food, etc. The interesting thing about this API is that it is a technology that does not track a specific behavior. For advertisers, it is a tool that will keep them informed about users’ topics of interest while significantly reducing the already criticized individual tracking.

• FLEDGE (First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups Experiment) is another solution proposed by Privacy Sandbox that allows advertisers to run interest-based campaigns without the use of third-party cookies. With this alternative, advertisers can present ads to groups of users who have similar general interests without tracking their behavior. In other words, FLEDGE helps maintain the privacy of sensitive user data. 

Google’s Plans for Third-Party Cookies: New Tools for Effective Strategies 🔧

While third-party cookies remain an effective tool in terms of crafting personalized ads, other tools and technologies are emerging to make brands more adept at adapting to privacy and data security regulations. 

• Consent Management Platforms (CMPs): these are tools that help manage consent concerning the collection of your data. These ensure compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

• Predictive analytics use machine learning algorithms that can predict the future behavior of any user. This approach is convenient because you get information for crafting effective ads, but without the individual tracking that is done by third-party cookies. 

• Contextual data-based advertising: these are various tools that allow the creation of ads, considering the content and context of the pages.

Although third-party cookies are still in force, implementing practices that prioritize user privacy and security can help improve the user’s relationship with the brand. Showing that there is a genuine commitment to the protection of this data will be a differentiating element in a market that is more aware of the importance of privacy. 

Our Recommendations💡: Adapting to the Age of Privacy

With Google’s decision to keep third-party cookies, brands still need to be prepared to adapt to the growing demands of privacy and constant evaluations of user data usage. 

How to make sure your brand stands out, achieve your advertising goals, and adhere to privacy laws: 

• Third-party cookies are here to stay, and have been a crucial tool for ad implementation and personalization… but there will be more regulation in the future. Our recommendation is to start using first-party data strategies, as these involve data collection, but with more discreet use than third-party cookies. Forms, surveys, and subscriptions are excellent data sources that will allow you to collect data in a transparent and less invasive way. Also, as a brand, you will have the opportunity to personalize your ads effectively because you will have more accurate and relevant information. 

• Make it clear how user data is collected, stored, and used. Why can this strategy be good for your brand? Firstly, it will help you comply with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, but you will also strengthen your image with the user by demonstrating that you have a clear commitment to protecting their personal information. 

• Optimize content through SEO. First-party data is what allows you to better understand what the users’ primary needs and preferences are. With this information, it will be easy to develop attractive, relevant, and valuable content. Content personalization, according to the preferences of your audience, will increase engagement and loyalty to your brand. SEO will play a key role because it uses specific data related to user behavior, which will help you better position your content in search engines. While third-party cookies are staying, SEO is still a fundamental tool to find and generate quality organic traffic. Incorporate keywords, share interesting and useful content, and adapt your SEO strategies according to the analytics you have obtained with first-party data. Each of these practices will boost your visibility and the impact you want to achieve in your advertising campaigns. 

• A very effective strategy is the SEO CTA (or Call to Action) as it works to convert traffic to your site into tangible results. A well-made and optimized CTA will guide your users to the actions you want them to take, such as subscribing to a newsletter, making a purchase, or requesting more information. Integrating a CTA will help you have better visibility in search engines and achieve a better click-through rate. An approach like this is the result of combining SEO techniques with conversion strategies, so you will maximize the return on investment with excellent results in your digital campaigns.
  
• Finally: Stay informed of all updates regarding third-party cookies. While they’re here to stay (for now), we encourage all marketers and brands to test new technologies and strategies that can be just as effective (and in less of a gray area). Education remains critical to adopting and adapting to the rapidly changing digital age. 

FAQs

Download our FREE No BS Guide to SEO Terminology 🔍