Tracking marketing impact in a cookieless world?
With demands for greater privacy, transparency and choice over how user data is being used, not to mention data leaks becoming more frequent, there have been calls for third-party cookies to be abolished completely.
Alternatives are quickly rising in popularity. First-party, consent-based tracking, contextual and keyword targeting are safely filling the third-party cookie void.
But not all alternatives tracking methods are safe. Fingerprinting, for example, is a much more invasive method and is overwhelmingly used without consent or the option to delete - making it non-GDPR compliant.
So how can and should marketers track their activities if cookies disappear?
In this post we’re covering:
The rise of cookies
What kinds of cookies are there?
The fall of third-party cookies
Fingerprinting a more invasive alternative?
Consent-based tracking
Utilising first-party cookies as a safer alternative
Contextual and keyword targeting
What we do at Dreamdata
Let’s dive into it.
Cookies on the rise
What are cookies? In essence, cookies are little bites of information that are sent to your browser from the websites you visit.
They were first developed by Netscape in 1994, with the purpose of ‘remembering’ you as you switched from page to page, thus improving browsing and giving a more personalised experience.
For example, let's say you go onto a website which sells clothing. First, you add shoes to the basket, then click on another page and add a t-shirt to the basket. It is cookies which remember what you have clicked on and pass information across the pages.
Pretty useful huh?
Not all cookies are created equally though. Some have been expanded from their original purpose and are used to track users as they move from website to website; gathering information on their browsing habits and interests as they do so.
They are now used ubiquitously by digital advertisers to deliver targeted ads, and by publishers and site owners for the purpose of web analytics.
Indeed, many marketers now rely on cookies to such an extent that they can scarcely imagine a world without them.
Chocolate chip or raisin bran? What kinds of cookies are there?
Before we go any further, let's have a look at the main types of digital cookies you should know about.
1st party cookies:
These are cookies that are created and managed by the publisher of the website. Their purpose is to remember user preferences on the website - such as language, dark/ light mode etc. and saving sessions as they move across the website.
2nd party cookies:
These cookies are 1st party cookies which have been transferred from one company to another in a collective data sharing agreement.
3rd party cookies:
Third-party cookies are generated by a third-party server and loaded into websites as the user navigates from website to website.
They gather information about the users interests and habits, and so are often used for tracking, retargeting and personalised advertising.
You are likely to have noticed browsing a product on one page, and then seeing the same product pop up in advertisements as you browse other websites - this is the work of third-party cookies.
Because of the invasive nature of these cookies, there have been rumblings for some time that they are on their way out.
The fall of third-party cookies
Firefox and Apple have already eliminated third-party cookies, and Google has made plans to phase them out by 2023.
The reason for this fall from grace is that users are demanding more privacy, transparency, choice and control over how their data is used.
Third-party cookies lie contrary to this by compiling detailed user profiles which includes things like the users' demographics, interests, lifestyle, financial data and more, so that companies can target them.
With a number of privacy breaches in recent years, this extensive profiling is increasingly seen as problematic.
In efforts to deal with this problem, new regulations have sprung up including the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP), which seek to protect user privacy and limit how data can be used.
Fingerprinting: a more invasive alternative which is not GDPR compliant.
Problematic as third-party cookies arguably are, without them, it is feared that there may be a drop in ad revenue which may lead to a decrease in free, available content on the web, and a rise in subversive tracking methods like fingerprinting.
For those not aware of fingerprinting, it is the gathering of little pieces of information about a user's machine - hardware, software, add-ons, preferences, etc. - which is used to paint a picture (or ‘fingerprint’) of the user's daily activities.
The problem with fingerprinting is that in most cases people aren’t given the option to opt out of tracking or delete the information stored about them and be digitally ‘forgotten’. Which is why fingerprinting (without consent or the option to delete) is currently illegal in the EU, under GDPR.
More on the finer details of consent here.
You can also dig deeper into fingerprinting in this article by web browser Mozilla.
So, with third-party cookies on the way out and subversive fingerprint tracking out of the question, how will marketers be able to see what’s working?
Preparing for a cookieless world
Although the idea of a cookieless world can seem daunting for marketers, the end of third-party cookies doesn’t mean the end of tracking.
The digital world moves quickly, and new options will continually appear on the scene.
Already, there are a number of ways to gain and analyze data, without the need for third-party cookies.
Let’s take a look at the best offerings out there.
Consent-based tracking
First of all, to comply with all the new regulations, companies need to make sure a few things are in place.
They must let users know that they are using cookies or other tracking technologies, explain what the cookies are being used for (and why) and make sure that users give consent to having cookies stored on their devices - and be able to opt-out again.
You can try to incentivise people to accept cookies, but you aren’t allowed to trick or manipulate them into acceptance.
For those who have relatively high levels of users opting in, there is little that needs to be done. With the information you gather from those who do accept, you can make models which will predict the behaviour of the rest.
On the other hand, if you have high rates of users who opt out then you can optimize your website to encourage people to click accept.
This can be done for example, by playing around with the colour, positioning, and text on the cookie banners, and choosing the pages to place them on that have the highest acceptance rates.
People are more likely to accept cookies if they know what they will get out of it, and, of course, if they trust your company.
The additional data that you will receive from increased rates of opt-ins will make it worth it in the long run through increased revenue. Learn more about using customer data to run multi-channel analytics and attribution here →
Utilise first-party cookies
One of the most useful ways to get ahead in a cookieless world is to start collecting your own first-party data (with consent).
After third-party data is phased out, first-party data that you collect yourself will be the most reliable way to identify your audience. With first-party data, you will own all the rights yourself and won’t be reliant on a third party to track customer behaviour.
Part of this will require you to capture durable people-based identifiers. Durable identifiers exist at the level of the individual - such as email address, phone numbers or something yet to be invented - and these will be used to identify your users. Once these users are identified you are then in a better position to see how they are interacting with your business.
You will also be required to focus on operating in a single online domain name. With one domain it will be easier to track your customers’ IDs across multiple devices whether they are on the web or on mobile devices; enabling you to see their connected journey.
Another thing you can do is to develop second-party partnerships. With this strategy, you use another company’s first-party data that is shared through a mutual agreement to exchange files. With businesses that overlap in some way or have similar customer bases, this can be useful for both parties.
Of course, keeping in mind GDPR where the user must consent to their data being shared in this manner.
You can learn more about the data privacy obligations of GDPR in this article →
Contextual and keyword targeting
An alternative way of getting around a lack of cookies, is by changing the way that marketing operates, and targeting users based on their preferred content instead of their browsing history.
Contextual targeting involves placing ads next to relevant content. This approach targets customers by matching ads to the content on a web page rather than to the user specifically.
Topic detection software can be used for this by analysing web pages and matching them to relevant ads on that page.
For example, a user reading a recipe on carrot cake may be shown an ad for whipped cream, as they are more likely to be interested in this than someone reading an article about car tires.
Similarly, keyword targeting through search engine marketing involves targeting keywords and web content.
This form of marketing was previously used more, but it was seen as somewhat slower in achieving conversions. Nonetheless, with improvements in predictive analytics and constantly evolving AI, this form of marketing is likely to grow more effective and no doubt will regain its utility in the future.
Those who will do well in the new marketing scene are those who can utilise these other tactics - particularly those who prioritize collecting first-party data and creating personalisation while protecting the privacy of the user.
What we do at Dreamdata:
Here at Dreamdata, we know the importance of collecting (relevant) user data. Our product is based on helping companies understand how their go-to efforts work. A fundamental part of this is keeping track of what users are interacting with on your site.
We gather first-party data on users from tools that are already in use - such as CRM, product support and analytics tools. We also collect data via our script which runs on your website and allows us to see which users are coming onto your site and what they do while there.
At the heart of everything we do is protecting the data and privacy of our customers.
Dreamdata is fully GDPR compliant, meaning that no information is stored or passed outside the EU unless a customer requests it. We will also not pass your data to third parties and if you stop using the services then all your data will be deleted from our data warehouses.
To find out more about how Dreamdata tracks customer data check out this article →
Conclusion
For decades marketers have relied on cookies to track user behaviour and deliver personalised experiences.
But with data regulations becoming ever more strict and the growing demand for user privacy, a world free of cookies is being envisioned. Leaving marketers wondering about what the future will hold for their tracking and targeting.
However, all is not lost for the world of marketing. With just a few adjustments marketers can continue to gain the information they need for successful marketing.
But caution, there are unsavoury options out there. Non-consent fingerprinting, for example, is being offered as an alternative to cookie tracking. Yet, fingerprinting is more invasive than cookies, and without consent or the option to delete the data, violates EU GDPR regulations.
The future of marketing is ensuring that you are relevant without being invasive, and always respecting the user’s privacy at all stages of their buying journeys.
Safe alternatives are readily available out there: consent-based cookies, first-party data tracking and contextual keyword targeting all offer the marketer everything you need to nail your efforts.