The Ultimate YouTube Advertising Guide
BY THE NUMBERS YouTube is one of the largest search engines, second only to its…
Chrome announced it was phasing out Third-Party cookies way back in 2019 and has since pushed the deadline several times to allow advertisers to adjust. But what does that REALLY mean for advertisers and their targeting? The Oodle team digs into first and third-party cookies and the future of targeting:
First-party cookies are created directly by the website a user visits. They are largely non-controversial and represent an agreement between the user and the site they’re visiting to enhance the experience of the user. These cookies allow the owners of the website to:
Users interact with first-party cookies every day even if they don’t realize it. Amazon is a great example: when a user navigates to Amazon for the first time, Amazon.com stores a snippet of data in the user’s web browser under the amazon.com domain. When they return to the site, Amazon.com requests that snippet and loads the site with the data stored there. If a user chooses to block first-party cookies, they would need to sign in every time they visited the site and would have to purchase items one at a time because the site would not remember the items stored in their cart.
Third-party cookies are different than first-party cookies in that they are on one domain and shared across other domains using that same tracking code. They’re used almost exclusively for online-advertising purposes to track user activity online and in turn display advertisements based on the user’s activity. These cookies are commonly used for:
Simply put, third-party cookies are being eliminated because of a major shift to protect user privacy and data. According to Google “Users are demanding greater privacy–including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used–and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands.” Firefox and Safari browsers phased out third-party cookies some time ago. Google is working to transition away from them more gradually to ensure that advertisers have enough time to pivot without destroying their advertising business:
Some browsers have reacted to these concerns by blocking third-party cookies, but we believe this has unintended consequences that can negatively impact both users and the web ecosystem. By undermining the business model of many ad-supported websites, blunt approaches to cookies encourage the use of opaque techniques such as fingerprinting (an invasive workaround to replace cookies), which can actually reduce user privacy and control. We believe that we as a community can, and must, do better. (Chromium Blog)
Because Safari, Firefox, and soon Chrome will no longer support third-party data, some areas in the marketing and advertising industry may change; however, many tactics will stay virtually the same. Some important notes on the shift away from third-party cookies and its impact on advertising:
Worried about how to handle this transition?
If your business has relied on third-party cookies for advertising or if you’re just not sure how this will affect you, we can help! Reach out to us to set up a free consultation with Oodle and we’ll help you develop a game plan!