Time is almost up, and third-party cookies will no longer be around for us to rely on for effective PPC advertising.
To put this into a larger perspective, the last web browser to block third-party cookies to protect users’ privacy is Google Chrome, which is two-thirds of the global search market. However, Google plans to phase out third-party cookies in 2023 to promote a more stable ecosystem to support businesses across the web.
Once third-party cookies become extinct, most PPC advertising agencies will innovate with new tracking methods and create new strategies to optimize their digital marketing efforts. Partnering with a digital marketing agency spearheading the challenge will be your best bet at keeping your clients afloat in the upcoming years of online marketing.
What’s An Online Cookie?
There are different types of cookies, but in summary, they are text files that websites send to your device that are then used to monitor and retain specific information about you.
The Cookie Party
- It consists of bits of information that collect web-user data.
- Store user data such as browsing and setting preferences and tracking information.
First-party vs. Third-party
The primary differentiator is who uses that data and who the cookie collects information for.
First-party Cookies
Serve to improve user experience (UX). Examples include items added to online shopping carts, usernames, passwords, and language preferences. They also help provide services such as live chats and support.
Third-party Cookies
They are placed by someone other than the website owner to track users. Information stored about these users helps enhance PPC strategies to drive up website traffic and sales.
Data Brought By Parties
Marketing-relevant information
- Age
- Origin
- Gender
- User behavior
Third-party Cookies Leaving The Fun
Who wants to join a party without privacy and security? This is one of the reasons why third-party cookies will no longer be able to join the crowd. However, this leaves the party planners (online advertisers) blind when it comes to personalizing events (ads) and creating an ideal online experience (UX).
What Will Replace Third-party Cookies?
As we approach the deadline to opt-out of third-party cookies, some alternatives are already in the mix to ensure advertising agencies can manage PPC effectively. With time ticking, you can anticipate many other innovative options that will be made available in the near future.
Currently, this is where the trends seem to be heading:
Google’s Browser-based Model
Rather than collect individual data, this model collects data from users and groups them into similar interest segments that online advertisers can later leverage to target ads with.
These privacy-preserving alternatives for reaching relevant audiences are updated every week to keep ad targeting relevant and make it harder to identify each group member.
First-party Data Tracking
If you are an advertiser or company, then any information collected on customers/users is owned and can be used for PPC management, including segmenting audiences to offer them as targets in ad placements on a site. This information includes content viewed, interested topics, and responses from surveys about demographics and interests.
Identity-based Tracking
Similar to a cookie-based system, this is a unique identifier for a user that can be assessed via login or other forms of ID. Identity-based tracking can evaluate access to information such as browsing history, ad views, and interactions like third-party cookie tracking. But then again, this would require an extra step within the client experience journey and overall acceptance by online advertising.
Browser Fingerprinting
This consists of collecting details about the user such as browser type, content browsed, and operating system without any personal identifiers. It then tries to look for the same information trends to follow users across the web.
What Do We Gain From This?
It takes time for users to feel confident shopping on new websites. Increasing privacy and security measures is a way to promote a better user experience and help your online consumers build confidence in a business (which means a higher chance of success and better ROI from their PPC strategy)
This change in the industry will push digital marketing agencies to contribute to more sustainable online ecosystems by being more transparent when collecting data from their customers.
The right PPC management tools will be essential to tackle this new challenge in the industry. We already have a plan of action to help agencies achieve long-term success and sustainability with PPC advertising.
Let’s have a chat where we can venture into what we have in mind.
