Posted January 22, 2020
Author Charles Mi
Google rang in the New Year with an urgent reminder to marketers that Chrome will end third-party cookie support in two years. Along with the demise of third-party data, the current incarnation of your data management platform (DMP) is going to become obsolete as well.
Not having access to third-party cookies will significantly impact your marketing strategies, including cross-channel media buying and the success of your personalization efforts.
What are you doing to prepare for this new world of data sourcing and usage to continue a reliable flow of buyer intelligence?
The New Data Paradigm: Adapt or Lose
The evolution of technology and data gathering techniques have surpassed the cookie’s utility. As a result, the data industry will need to be transparent about the source of their data and the type of data they collect. Data buyers must know that it is ethically-sourced (e.g., legally gathered).
Serious consequences of undisclosed data sourcing include inaccurate targeting and measurement. In short, your campaigns will likely fail if you don’t adapt.
How to Win: Build Unified Identities
Separate from data, but similar, identity is the key indicator for knowing and recognizing an anonymized individual. It is built on top of valuable first party data. But without a current market standard, companies and industries have different methodologies for building, storing and trading identity. Publishers use login data. In travel, identity often originates through loyalty programs. For retail, it may be through purchases.
Despite the lack of standardization, identity is the key to valuable personalization and insights moving forward, and should be treated as such. It’s not a simple data point, but something that connects data points to a single anonymized person.
Identities are also subject to data collection, rights management and data privacy laws, so brands must design strategies that meet these thresholds.
Tips to Get Ready
- Limit your reliance on third-party cookies. Only identity-based data can ensure accuracy, quality and reliability into the future.
- Migrate your current DMP into an identity-based platform. DMPs rely on third-party cookies to consistently associate data. They will no longer be able to deliver these buyer insights.
- Since third-party cookies will no longer be accessible, look-alike models that are built on them will not be useful. Start adopting an end-to-end Identity-based platform as soon as possible.
Start Now on Your “Cookieless” Digital Strategies
Google’s decision to eliminate third-party cookies was inevitable as the landscape of consumer data privacy, data transparency, and data rights management have evolved. Fortunately, brands and agencies have time to adapt to this significant change.
Charles Mi is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Adara.
Resources:
CNBC: Google plans to kill support for third-party cookies that track you all over the internet
Google Blog: Building a more private web: A path towards making third party cookies obsolete
Digiday: Google plans to kill off third-party cookies in Chrome ‘within 2 years’
AdExchanger: 4 Ways The Death Of The Cookie In Chrome Could Affect Marketers