Seven cardinal principles of ‘Life After Death’ of cookies

   ‘’This is the way the world ends

    This is the way the world ends

    This is the way the world ends

    Not with a bang but a whimper.’’

Suddenly, the famous lines from “The Hollow Men” by T S Eliot seem to be resonating in the advertising world with Google’s launch of “Tracking Protection”, a feature that limits cross-site tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default (initiated for 1% of Chrome third-party cookies on 4^th January 2024).

Certainly, this is big news for heralding a new digital world order and announcing the embracing of Consumer privacy. But it seems it hasn’t startled the digital or marketing fraternity much, yet. Will the demise of these digital linchpins go unnoticed, or will it be the catalyst for an unprecedented transformation? The digital marketing fraternity must not merely adapt; it must pioneer a new paradigm, transcending the ordinary.

Will we be used to this “whimper” even at the end of 2024 when they completely go away? That’s a big question to ponder and prepare us accordingly.

There can be two possibilities if 100% Chrome third-party cookies (3PC) get deprecated by 2024 end without a “Bang”:

1. Either these cookies were inconsequential, or their departure won't cause a ripple
2. Or they were invaluable, replaced seamlessly by alternatives yet unknown.

I cannot bring myself to agree with the first since for the last 3 decades, trillions of dollars have been spent in this industry and 3PC was one of the basic pillars of digital advertising basis which audiences got segmented and targeted, plans were made, measurement and attribution were done and finally BRANDS were built irrespective of their accuracy level (which started getting questioned only recently).

The latter proposition resonates with optimism, for three decades of industry investment cannot be in vain. But this is certainly not an easy path to tread for the entire ecosystem to achieve this status of “complete readiness” by the end of 2024.

Trailblazing Alternatives: Shaping the Future

Amidst fervent discussions, a plethora of alternatives are emerging, each vying for a spot in the new digital landscape:

1. Browser-based frameworks like Privacy Sandbox Chrome API Initiatives:
   1. TOPICS API
   2. Protected Audience API
   3. Attribution Reporting API
   4. CHIPS API

Google APIs will be used behind the scenes to maximize the value of these signals and Identities (Privacy Sandbox, MAIDs, Connected TV IFAs, Advertiser 1PD, Publisher and Exchange IDs, Contextual Signals)

1. Pivoting Towards Contextual Advertising
2. Prioritizing consent-based zero-party or First-Party Data Collection, Enrichment, and Activation at scale. (Both for Advertisers and Publishers)
3. Embracing Industry Identifiers like CORE IDs, and UID2.0 to name a few.
4. Creation of bespoke ID solutions (either in-house or with Vendors)
5. Adopting Data Clean Rooms for Privacy Compliant Data Collaboration, In sighting and measurement
6. Walled Garden Clean Rooms – ADH, Amazon Marketing Cloud
7. Neutral Independent ones – Aqilliz, Habu, and Infosum to name a few
8. Strengthening Privacy compliant Partnerships with
   1. Data Providers and Media Owners (2^nd Party Data Partnerships)
   2. Client/Brand Handshakes to collaborate with data.
      
      9. Focusing on more Cookie-less Activation Channels
      1. CTV
      2. Audio
      3. DOOH
      4. OTTs

The extent of preparations is a key concern among marketers. According to Mediaocean’s 2024 Market Outlook report into digital advertising, brands’ preparations for privacy in a cookie-less world and effectiveness measurement in this new era are the top concerns cited in the study. 

Blueprint for Success: Seven Cardinal Principles 

While there is enough and more information on the above alternatives on the internet and I will refrain from detailing them, my objective is to put down my seven principles which I feel will be important for creating the alternative(s) and to make them shine and succeed in a cookie-free world.

These alternatives can surely work, and may be much better than 3PC provided the new digital world order is based on these seven cardinal principles:

1. Principle of Collaboration
2. Principle of Interoperability
3. Principle of Privacy Compliance
4. Principle of Scalability
5. Principle of Anti-Competitiveness
6. Principle of Addressability
7. Principle of Trust and transparency

All the above principles are self-explanatory and if you delve a little deeper, you will find all of them to be interdependent. This needs to be coupled with a new-age tech stack which must be privacy-compliant and interoperable too. Any new solution will need to respect the above principles to make life after the death of cookies sustainable and beautiful.

Irrespective of the outcome, the trajectory for a brand's audience-centric digital advertising strategy is destined to involve offering a compelling value proposition to consumers. This approach should ethically and legally incentivize individuals to willingly share their data, aligning with their perspectives on data privacy. Achieving this goal involves a straightforward three-step process: clearly articulating the value proposition, addressing privacy apprehensions, and empowering consumers with control over their data.

Blessing in disguise: Decoding the transition.

But let there be no misconception: Third-party cookies are not the same thing as third-party data. And the deprecation of the former doesn’t take away the importance of the latter. As marketers lose third-party cookies data signals, they’re going to need to supplement or enrich their audience understandings elsewhere — and in most cases, that “elsewhere” is going to be via third-party insights or from players owning consented and privacy-compliant data. It is here that the heavy lifting can be done by Data Clean Rooms- the bastion of transformation.

The discontinuation of third-party cookies presents the industry with a rare chance to reboot data-driven digital advertising. This necessitates marketers to reconsider how they establish enduring connections with customers, seeking out publishers and media collaborators possessing valuable data and insights. The shift prompts brands to shift focus towards content and context, moving beyond the pursuit of customers across the web. Publishers stand to enhance the monetization of their inventory, crafting compelling brand and content experiences for marketers. Consumers should finally enjoy a relevant yet unobtrusive open web advertising experience. 

Challenges abound, and every stakeholder in this dynamic ecosystem holds a pivotal role in finding or building sound alternative(s) amidst the rise of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), the centralization of Data via CDPs, the shrinking pool of addressable users, the impact of post-IDFA mobile Advertising (Android Privacy Sandbox is also in the works) and the ongoing quest for measurement and attribution solutions.

I only wish that the death of third-party cookies does not even create a whimper and that the industry seamlessly adapts and adopts the new evolved and enriched digital world order, which is privacy-compliant, interoperable, scalable, anti-competitive, and driven by an unprecedented collaborative spirit.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

I hope posterity can reverberate the above words of Robert Frost, with the 3PC alternatives becoming the harbinger of a new digital advertising era.

The afterlife will be more transparent, vibrant, democratic, and consumer-centric. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com.