What Happened
Google’s long-standing plans to eliminate web tracking cookies has come to an abrupt halt with the company announcing on Monday, July 22 that they will be keeping cookies operational within Chrome for an indefinite period. Google’s stance has rocked the industry since January of 2020 when Google made their first announcement to end cookies. Despite delays and scrutiny, Google continued on this path and even as of January 4 of this year with rolling out to 1% of Chrome users initial deprecation efforts of enabling users to restrict data shared when visiting a website. This update had finally shown traction in the “will they or won’t they” conversation that has engulfed the industry for years.
The latest announcement also included a promise to continue forging ahead with the development and realization of their Privacy Sandbox and develop cookie tracking preferences for consumers.
Code3 POV: Why We Care
Despite countless delays, we started to prep for the massive impact particularly on remarketing efforts. Google’s about face though is not the end of the cookie saga, it’s only an intermission. The reversal of Google’s decision doesn’t mean advertisers should stop looking for other solutions or become reliant on cookies. Consumer privacy concerns are still at the forefront especially with the heightened use of AI and cybersecurity threats that can erode consumer trust.
At the heart of this continuous saga has been consumer privacy and lack of consumer choice, hence the bold solution to eliminate 3rd party cookies altogether. Fact of the matter is, a certain level of cookie deprecation is here. Advertisers are still adjusting targeting strategies for Apple Safari, DuckDuckGo plus others elimination of trackers coupled with social advocating for less reliance on pixel-based remarketing. If social platforms such as Meta, TikTok and Snapchat continue to garner buy-in from advertisers to leverage broad audiences in lieu of pixel-based remarketing segments and it drives performance, we may see less reliance on 3rd party cookies. Placing it on life support, just not an abrupt death as Google wanted.
Therefore, the prep work in focusing on first party data and other targeting options are not in vain. If anything, Google’s pivot coupled with their choice features, strengthens the need for advertisers to be prepared for lack of addressable inventory stemming from user opt-out fallout (67% of US adults turn off cookie tracking - EMARKETER, Jan 2024).
Lastly, this new turnaround begs the question if Google can make cookies remaining, coexist with their Privacy Sandbox initiative or will they abandon the sandbox all-together. Google will also need to figure out how their targeting and measurement will operate with a widespread userbase of opt-in and opt-out.
What to Do Now
Cookie deprecation has not crumbled but may be getting a new recipe, and brands should still plan accordingly to mitigate potential loss of inventory from more widespread opt-in and opt-out user choices.
- Still ensure you have up-to-date tracking in place across your digital channels: Google Tag, GA4, Conversions API, Pixels, Global Site Tag as well
- Watch out for announcements on new feature adoption and how Google will evolve their targeting and measurement across their browser
- Leverage first party data to fill in some of the gaps in tracking or drop in inventory that may come up
- Continue to test audience expansion capabilities like Google’s Optimized Targeting, Paid Social Lookalike Audiences, or Meta’s Advantage+ Audiences, which models out people likely to be interested in your product or service