The Cookiepocalypse is causing significant changes in the online shopping world. Websites are no longer able to track user activity through cookies, which poses a challenge for online stores. In this blog post, we’ll talk about the problems caused by the Cookiepocalypse and share some strategies and tactics for online stores to keep doing well.

What Caused the Cookiepocalypse

First, let’s quickly summarize what is behind the Cookiepocalypse. Frankly, we should call it the Third-Party Cookiepocalypse because cookies as a method for data processing and collection are not going away—first-party data are still cookies, they just function differently. But let’s stick with the common term, just for now.

The Cookiepocalypse is a result of increasing privacy concerns and legislative actions that have led major browsers like Google Chrome and Apple Safari to phase out third-party cookies, with Google’s Privacy Sandbox set to replace them by the second half of 2024. 

Google’s initial proposal to replace third-party cookies—Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC)—also faced privacy concerns and antitrust issues, leading to its abandonment. Then, the Privacy Sandbox introduced a new proposal called Topics, which aims to maintain user privacy while displaying relevant content and advertisements. By analyzing the user’s browsing history, the browser will identify a few interest-based categories that can assist websites in displaying relevant ads. 

With Topics, the user’s visited sites are not shared across the internet, unlike with third-party cookies. As a result, Google introduced Google Topics API, categorizing user website visits into topics and providing this data to advertisers with a shorter data retention period. 

While still in testing, companies need to prepare for the shift, given the time required to adapt to such a significant change.

So Why Third-Party Cookies Are Going Away?

Third-party cookies originate from domains other than the visited website, often via pop-ups or ads. They are used to track user activity across the internet, collecting personalized data valuable to digital marketers. Their main purpose is to enable advertisers to create user personas and retarget ads. 

At the same time, third-party cookies compromise user privacy by extensively tracking online user behavior. As a result, third-party cookies are to be phased out, leading to concerns among marketers who heavily rely on them, including Google.

How First-Party Data is Better Than Third-Party Cookies

First-party cookies will replace third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created by the website a user is visiting. They store user preferences, making websites more user-friendly.

They are commonly used for remembering login information, language preferences, and tracking items in shopping carts for e-commerce, etc. 

First-party cookies are utilized by tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console and remain unaffected by the Cookiepocalypse, ensuring continuity for organic search and content-based marketing strategies.

Why SEO Is Crucial in a Post-Cookie World

SEO relies on organic interactions and does not require user tracking, making it less affected by the Cookiepocalypse. As paid advertising faces challenges, SEO may play a more substantial role in reaching and engaging users.

Search engine optimization (SEO) focuses on optimizing a website’s content and structure to attract users through organic interactions. This means that users find a website through natural search results based on the relevance of the content to their queries. Unlike paid advertising, SEO doesn’t rely on user tracking mechanisms and instead provides valuable content and a user-friendly experience aligned with the user’s search intent.

SEO is less susceptible to changes in user tracking, such as the Cookiepocalypse, because it doesn’t rely on the same tracking mechanisms as digital advertising. SEO strategies remain effective in delivering organic traffic even as tracking options diminish, providing a stable and reliable way to reach users without being affected by the limitations imposed by the end of third-party cookies.

With the challenges faced by paid advertising due to the Cookiepocalypse, businesses may find SEO to be a more substantial and reliable channel for reaching and engaging users. Organic search results become an increasingly valuable avenue for attracting users without the need for extensive user tracking.

SEO is built on creating high-quality, relevant, and valuable content for users, making it a long-term sustainable strategy. Websites employing strong SEO practices are likely to maintain visibility and relevance over the long term, while paid advertising strategies heavily reliant on user tracking may face ongoing challenges as privacy concerns continue to shape the digital landscape.

Finally, user trust and credibility are key aspects that SEO focuses on. It prioritizes user experience, quality content, and website credibility, all of which play a significant role in building trust with users. In today’s world, where privacy and data security are of utmost importance, businesses that prioritize SEO can utilize these elements to establish trust with their audience.

How the Demise of Third-Party Cookies Will Affect E-Commerce Businesses

Anonymous Audiences Are Going Away

The end of third-party cookies will make anonymous audiences less valuable. E-commerce business owners and advertisers are going to face significant challenges with the end of third-party cookies, which have been a crucial tool for tracking and profiling users across different websites. This loss of tracking and profiling capabilities means that you will struggle to understand users’ online activities and interests, making it harder to create personalized advertising campaigns.

Moreover, the absence of third-party cookies also leads to reduced targeting precision. It becomes more difficult to accurately target specific demographic or interest-based audiences without these cookies. You will need to explore new methods like contextual targeting and AI solutions.

As a result of these changes, you will need to shift your focus towards first-party data. You will need to place greater emphasis on collecting information directly from your own websites or applications. 

This may involve encouraging users to log in, providing explicit consent for data collection, and implementing other strategies to gather valuable user data directly. Encouraging users to create accounts on websites provides a way to collect first-party data ethically, offering benefits such as audience tracking, audience building for advertisers, and moving users toward subscription models.

The Way Analytics Work Will Change

The use of third-party cookies has been a valuable tool for publishers to gather data on user behavior and engagement with their content. This data includes metrics such as page views, time spent on page, and bounce rates, which help publishers understand how users interact with their content. 

However, with the discontinuation of third-party cookies, there are limitations on the ability to collect and display such cross-site data. This may make it more challenging for publishers to gain a comprehensive view of user behavior beyond their own websites.

Third-party cookies have also been instrumental in tracking user behavior across multiple devices, allowing advertisers and publishers to understand how users switch between different devices. 

With the end of third-party cookies, double counting of users across different devices will become increasingly difficult. Each device will be treated as a separate entity, making it harder to create a unified profile of a user’s activities across their various digital touchpoints. This has implications for both advertisers and publishers who rely on a holistic understanding of user behavior to deliver personalized content or targeted advertising.

The inability to connect user activities seamlessly across devices may impact the precision of targeting strategies. You will need to find new ways to gather data on user behavior and engagement, such as through first-party cookies or other tracking methods. 

While the discontinuation of third-party cookies presents challenges, it also provides an opportunity for publishers and advertisers to explore new ways of understanding and engaging with their audiences.

How E-Commerce Can Prosper in the Cookieless World

Looking ahead to the next two years of first-party data uprising, your goal will be to provide better experiences for all consumers. This means ensuring that consumers have control over how their data is shared, who it is shared with, and what they receive in return. To avoid any panic similar to the Y2K scare, marketers should take the following steps.

It is crucial to prepare for the end of third-party cookies in the advertising industry. This shift requires you to adapt their strategies and find alternative ways to reach their target audience effectively.

How to Craft a Strategic Approach to First-Party Data Collection

Building a strong first-party data strategy is essential. By understanding consumers’ commerce journey and utilizing personalized ads, marketers can create a more tailored and engaging experience for their audience. Read our blog post for tips on how to create a first-party strategy.

Why Optimize Your Website

Website optimization for improved user experience is also hugely important. In order to keep your audience engaged, it is crucial to optimize your website for a better user experience. An optimized site allows visitors to easily navigate, find relevant information, and have a positive interaction, which increases the chances of them staying longer on your platform.

With the challenges of targeted advertising without third-party cookies, an optimized website can provide a personalized and user-friendly experience. By spending time on your site, users provide valuable first-party data that can be used for targeted content and promotions within the limitations of the Cookiepocalypse.

Without the reliance on third-party cookies, understanding and adapting to user behavior on your website becomes even more important. Optimization allows you to analyze user interactions, preferences, and feedback, enabling continuous improvement based on real-time data and ensuring your site meets evolving user expectations.

Why Personalization and High-Quality Content is Important

To move customers along the sales funnel, you will need to focus on high-quality and targeted content. You can employ different methods to register users, including close-out boxes, metered access, exclusive content, and added value offerings. 

Having as many logged-in users as possible can unlock opportunities for publishers’ growth strategies. Registered users are more likely to become subscribers, making it essential to move readers along the subscriptions funnel. By using first-party data, you can confidently measure demographic data against users’ email addresses and target ads to a known audience.

Why Introduce First-Party Media Network

Lastly, the introduction of the First-Party Media Network offers a solution for programmatic advertising. This network utilizes deep integrations and advanced AI to optimize ad placements and ensure maximum effectiveness.

The main point of the provided text is the concept of a first-party media network, which is an integrated system of first-party data and AI. This network allows marketers and media owners to connect, enhance, and improve engagement and experiences for consumers. 

The first-party media network simplifies three key processes for marketers and media owners:

• it helps them onboard and share their first-party data
• it amplifies their first-party data by providing insights from the network’s database
• it enables them to leverage this first-party data and commerce data to drive value for themselves and their customers. 

To achieve all of this, a large collection of addressable commerce data is required. This data allows the AI involved to continuously provide meaningful and actionable insights that can be directly applied to the consumer experience. The addressability of this data across media owners and their various contexts is also crucial for the success of this process.

Taking steps towards third-party cookie independence, such as passing first-party data into the First-Party Media Network and utilizing contextual, cohort, and omnichannel campaigns, etc. is crucial. This will help you adapt to the changing landscape in a privacy-safe manner and gain a competitive advantage.

The Benefits of the First-Part Data Approach after the Cookiepocalypse

The recent third-party cookie issue has had a significant impact on advertisers’ ability to target audiences across various sites and networks. As a result, advertisers and publishers are now shifting their focus towards first-party data. 

This presents an excellent opportunity for you to concentrate on 

• direct sales
• stronger sponsorship opportunities
• deeper relationships with advertisers, 
• and better reporting. 

With first-party data, you can confidently measure demographic data against users’ email addresses and target ads to a known audience. Relying on data directly collected from users on their own platforms, you can gain greater control over customer information while respecting privacy concerns. 

This approach not only ensures compliance with evolving data regulations but also fosters trust with users. As third-party cookies fade away, leveraging first-party data becomes crucial for personalized marketing, allowing you to tailor experiences based on user preferences and behaviors.

Conclusion

Cookies, small data packets created by web servers, have been integral to online identity and user tracking since their invention in 1994. And they are going away now. The impending Cookiepocalypse will reshape online advertising and marketing. Shifting towards first-party data, optimizing websites, and emphasizing SEO and personalized content are vital strategies to thrive in this evolving digital landscape. Staying informed about Google’s updates is essential for a smooth transition.