Third-Party Cookie Phase-Out: What Marketers Need to Know

Cookies are an essential part of internet usage, allowing websites to remember you and provide a more personalized experience. This browser-based technology can be used to identify a device or a specific user. Although primarily designed to streamline a user’s web experience, cookies also play an integral role in digital marketing. Tracking activity across the web like websites frequently visited, interests shown and purchases made gives marketers insight into consumer behaviors that can be used to build robust visitor profiles to improve ad targeting relevancy.

Cookies were never really meant to do as much work or contain and share as much information as they currently do. As a result, consumers have grown increasingly concerned about the privacy of their personal information and are demanding greater transparency, choice and control over how their data is used. This has become a driving force behind major players like Apple, Mozilla and Google modifying their support of the tracking technology, creating a need for digital advertisers to adapt with innovative solutions that do not rely on cookies.

But not all cookies are going away. First-party cookies will remain (at least for now). Potentially troubling third-party cookies are what will soon become obsolete. There is no reprieve. It’s coming and is unavoidable. The technology that provides the foundation for online marketing as we know it today will cease. So, what exactly does that mean for the advertising industry and your brand’s digital campaigns?

First-Party Cookies vs. Third-Party Cookies

Let’s start with a quick refresher on the difference between first-party cookies and third-party cookies. A first-party cookie is code generated by the website being used. In general, these are considered safe and allow the site to gather basic analytics about the user’s visit(s). The data is limited to the user’s behavior on that website; their activity on other websites not affiliated with that domain is not shared.

Third-party cookies are placed by another website that is not the website the user is browsing (hence the name third-party). These cookies track a visitor’s activity as they browse the web collecting information like sites visited and even potentially contact information like name, email address, street address and phone number.

This data is used to help understand a user’s interests, preferences and traits allowing brands to target more effectively based on that information. Third-party cookies also enhance attribution capabilities by providing a more holistic view of what goes into a conversion which facilitates campaign optimization.

Data Privacy Concerns

Until recently, most users didn’t realize they were being tracked by third parties and the depth of information collected. In an effort to promote data privacy, major browsers either already are or will soon significantly limit both the persistence and utilization of third-party cookies.

A series of laws and government regulations designed to protect user information have evolved over time as well. The two most significant policies worldwide are the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). GDPR was designed to protect the personal information of users in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) while CCPA gives consumers in California more control over the personal information a business collects about them. Voters recently approved Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act (CPRA). It amends key elements of the CCPA and will replace it effective 2023.

As a result, some companies have chosen to implement permission-based third-party cookies, while others have begun to phase them out completely and are seeking new solutions. Regardless, third-party cookies are living on borrowed time challenging marketers to find an alternative that balances consumer privacy and personalization.

Third-Party Cookie Phase-Out

Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox already block all third-party cookie tracking on their browsers. Although Google has now postponed removing support of third-party cookies on Chrome, the three-month phase-out period is expected to be complete by late 2023.

As of Q2 2020, the top three desktop web browsers, Chrome, Safari and Firefox held 68.3 percent, 9.3 percent and 8.9 percent of the market share respectively. In terms of mobile browser traffic, Chrome held 61.9 percent and Safari held 26.9 percent of the market share as of June 2020. Consequently, Chrome’s removal of third-party cookies will have the strongest impact on the advertising industry to date.

Then there’s the mobile app world where IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) is used to track user behavior. This randomly generated and generally anonymous identifier enables addressable advertising and conversion tracking online. Apple dealt a crushing blow to this technology with its iOS 14.5 launch in April 2021 by disabling it by default. Originally scheduled to go into effect with the release of iOS 14 in September 2020, the delay gave partners a brief reprieve. However, users are now required to opt-in before apps can collect and share data using the device identifier. Despite an ad campaign in defense of the personalization enabled by this tracking, Facebook was forced to comply and request permission to track user activity beyond the app.

Since the iOS 14.5 release, users can configure data privacy settings with one tap.

Advertising Implications

So, what does this mean for your brand’s digital advertising campaigns? It’s an end to current cookie-based targeting and measurement across the digital ecosystem that provides insight into which channels, creative, messages and placements deliver the best ROI. Although the loss of third-party cookies doesn’t mean this ability is gone forever, it does make tracking and performance measurement more challenging.

It’s important to note the change will have a limited impact on advertising within large platforms like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Pinterest. These walled gardens where users log in to accounts and accept detailed terms and conditions around data usage can still collect data from users and easily advertise within their own domain without much restriction. However, once a visitor navigates off these platforms, standard privacy restrictions apply.

A Replacement for Third-Party Cookies

Discussions are underway among various industry bodies such as the IAB and key stakeholders to develop new technical standards and guidelines. Although independent ad tech firms are working feverishly to develop their own solutions, all eyes are on Google for a new standardized replacement.

Google has, in fact, has been working on an alternative solution called the Privacy Sandbox that would curtail improper tracking while continuing to allow ad targeting within the Chrome browser. It seeks to strike a balance between personalization and privacy by anonymously aggregating user information and keeping more of it on the device itself rather than storing it in the cloud. As a Google Premier Partner, Mindstream Media Group has access to resources to keep us on top of developments like this that will impact our clients’ current and future campaigns.

Source:  Google

Apple has a solution as well that was actually released in 2018 and is now experiencing increased adoption since iOS 14.5. The SKAdNetwork, or simply “ad network API,” is an integration between advertising platforms and Apple’s App Store that attributes mobile app installations and post-install activity to advertising campaigns in a privacy-compliant manner. However, it comes with its own challenges – namely, it aggregates users and is not delivered in real-time, complicating attribution and optimization.

Facebook has released an updated version of the Facebook SDK to provide support for Apple’s SKAdNetwork API. However, because of its heavy dependence on app advertising, these changes have had a significant impact on Facebook’s Audience Network.

Targeting Alternatives

Although third-party cookies have become a pillar for behavioral targeting, it’s important to remember that is just one targeting option. Viable alternatives include the following:

  1. Focus on first-party data.

Leverage your brand’s customer data platform (CDP) to get to know who your customers really are and target them directly. Because the data collected is more personalized than third-party cookies, this option can generate even better sales and conversions.

  1. Establish a direct partnership with publishers.

“As third-party data disappears with cookies and GDPR compliance, publisher audience knowledge is now being seen as a viable data source for segmentation and targeting and deeper insights in audience and brand engagement,” says Damon Reeve, CEO at The Ozone Project.

  1. Optimize retargeting and owned media.

Upload your own contact list to a platform such as a social media network or search engine to enable targeting to those contacts or a mirror audience that shares similar demographics. Owned media, such as websites and social platforms, should also be strengthened to engage visitors tapped through retargeting efforts.

  1. Utilize contextual targeting.

Contextual methods that reach consumers at key moments of research and inspiration will not be affected since they broadly target device type, brand, operating system or mobile carrier. This option also provides control over the type of content the ad will run adjacent to such as Health, News or Sports and includes parameters for geography and time of day.

The ability to track, measure and target across sites, screens and channels is imperative to crafting efficient and effective media strategies. Although a radical shift, the phase-out of third-party cookies could open the door to entirely new methods we have yet to imagine and create a more engaging, fraud-limited environment.

We view this change as an opportunity to reach an audience that chooses to see our clients’ ads by the nature of opting-in to tracking within apps they find valuable and trustworthy. The publishers and apps we partner with can distribute – and limit – content, features and ads based on an individual’s opt-in settings, involving the user in an unprecedented tracking relationship, a deeper level of trust and an enhanced online advertising experience.

Now more than ever, agile marketing strategies are a must. Connect with us to learn how we can Fast-Forward Your Business and deliver meaningful progress on your goals amidst the continual evolution of digital media.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published in February 2021 and has been updated for freshness and accuracy.

A Look Under the Hood, Amazon’s DSP

As the third-largest ad seller in the country, Amazon has secured its stronghold in the advertising landscape. With its millions of products available for consumers to peruse, research and purchase, it has become the go-to source for a great deal and quick delivery time. In a similar way, Amazon has also become a valuable resource for advertisers with its DSP – a programmatic advertising platform with many benefits for those who have the privilege, and expertise, to access it.

We sat down with our own Amazon Certified Programmatic Traders for a brief Q and A session to cover some of the basics of Amazon DSP.

1. What is the Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP is a demand-side platform that enables advertisers to programmatically buy display, audio and video ads at scale. Mindstream Media Group uses this DSP along with others to execute successful client campaigns.

2. Can ads be placed outside of Amazon when using Amazon DSP?

Yes, ads can be placed outside of Amazon through the Amazon DSP. Audiences can be reached on third-party websites and apps, and through other exchanges like AppNexus, OpenX, etc.

3. What are the benefits of using Amazon DSP?

Advertisers are able to leverage Amazon’s exclusive, first-party shopper (in-market) audience to target potential customers and track product purchases/subscriptions. This access to this first-party data is especially valuable as third-party cookies face elimination.

Source:  Amazon

Another benefit of using the Amazon DSP is that advertisers have access to high-quality, guaranteed inventory across premium publications like A&E, Hulu, Forbes, CBS and FOX. Brand-safe environments like these uphold quality standards to ensure ads do not appear next to inappropriate content.

The platform also provides granular conversion and Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) tracking. This allows performance to be measured at the individual product level for maximum transparency to influence optimization strategies.

4. What are the requirements to use Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP can be used by advertisers regardless of whether they sell products on Amazon. As for the minimum spend requirement, the threshold may vary based on service option and country, but a minimum spend of $35,000 is typically required.

5. What advertising goals does Amazon DSP help support?

Amazon DSP can be used to support a variety of advertising goals including brand awareness, consideration, driving sales and increasing customer loyalty.

Common KPIs unique to Amazon are CPDPV (Cost per Detailed Page View) and Amazon ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).

6. Who can use Amazon DSP?

Although selling products on Amazon is not required, brands that do can utilize all of the features available for a more complete picture to track product sales, ROAS and leverage valuable shopper data. Because of its extensive reach, Amazon DSP is best suited for advertisers who want to programmatically buy advertising at scale.

7. What are the advantages of having an agency partner manage Amazon DSP?

By using an agency partner to manage Amazon DSP, brands benefit from enhanced visibility, elevated campaign learnings and granular conversion reporting.

Using an agency like Mindstream Media Group to manage Amazon DSP campaigns provides deeper insight and recommendations to advertisers. Our expertise within the platform has helped clients optimize their advertising investment and better understand the nuance between audience and media types, and more.

8. What kind of performance data is available when using Amazon DSP?

Performance data such as impressions, clicks, product page views, ROAS and more are available inside Amazon DSP. Brands get performance visibility down to the product level to gain insight and help improve future campaigns. Having an agency partner with certified traders can help advertisers take full advantage of the platform’s capabilities.

Source:  Amazon

9. How are ads created?

Advertisers can use their own custom ads or quickly produce creative options using Amazon templates and creative builder platform.

Source:  Amazon

10. How can brands get started with Amazon DSP?

Mindstream Media Group’s Amazon Certified Programmatic Traders can help your brand maximize ROAS with complete campaign transparency and insight into optimizations and reporting.  Contact us today to determine if Amazon DSP is right for you.

How Agencies Can Grow Through Strategic Partnerships

Agency Solutions

12 Ways We Can Help You Fast-Forward Wins

Scale

  1. Pricing Insight
  2. Research
  3. New Biz Clout
  4. Increase Agency Value

Perspective

  1. Revenue Sharing Options
  2. No Minimums
  3. No Incremental Labor
  4. Protect Accounts

Capabilities

  1. Performance Expertise
  2. Analytics Suite
  3. Extend Service Offering
  4. You Win – Then, We Win


We Are Built To Be An Extension Of Your Team

icon

We are bold strategic advisors

Obvious answers usually aren’t going to Fast-Forward things, so we go deep to find the correlations and opportunities that can help us drive better results.

icon

We are fueled by data, driven by insight

Our business intelligence group mines your data and ours, not simply to plan, but to adjust in real time as market conditions evolve.

icon

We are capable of planning, buying and optimizing from national to hyper-local

We make it simple for brands to drive results regardless of the selling environment and company marketing structure.

icon

We work in agile communities of specialists

We don’t work in a traditional media hierarchy. We’re organized in communities of experts that create a virtuous cycle of improvement and position us to swarm to client opportunities.

Draw on Our Research Tools

We invest over $1 million annually in the media industry’s best research tools, which help to define and drive our media recommendations.

Leverage our Partnerships

Our media expertise has enabled our agency to partner with the best names in the business, like Google, Facebook, Yext, Dataxu, Microsoft, Snapchat and more.

 

How We Can Partner

3 Pillars

icon icon icon
Traditional Digital Analytics

2 Engagement Options

icon icon
Full-service execution Consulting

100% Transparent on Spend/Fees

Agency service models

Learn More

The agency landscape has changed dramatically as a result of numerous challenges across the marketplace. Learn more about how we’re filling the gap for agency partners that have found themselves with limited media and research capabilities. In this episode of Fast-Forward the Conversation, VP of Business Development Fabio Ramos and Planning Strategist Misty Castellanos join President Zac Keeney to discuss the value Mindstream can provide not only to agencies but to their clients as well.

 

 


Connect With Us

[Case Study]: Media Restructure Delivers 55% Lead Efficiency in Pandemic Year

The Graduate Management Admission CouncilTM (GMAC) is a global, mission-driven association of leading graduate business schools. They own and administer the Graduate Management Admission TestTM (GMATTM), the most widely used exam for graduate business school admissions. Mindstream Media Group has had the pleasure of partnering with GMAC for several years to hone strategic media initiatives that grow their business, even in spite of the difficulties created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Challenge

GMAC found themselves facing simultaneous challenges. The issue of potential MBA candidates opting out of business school to go straight to the workforce, combined with the increase in schools dismissing the need for the exam when recruiting new students, were already a trend impacting the business over the last several years; moreover, the 2020 pandemic caused all global test centers to shut down for months at different times as the virus progressed in each country. This resulted in a large decrease of their primary revenue source (in-person testing), considering at that point all tests were conducted in person.

These challenges needed to be overcome with less resources compared to previous years, due to the impact of the pandemic.

Solution

In order to solve these complex challenges, we gathered data and insights from previous years of campaigns and built a robust, yet lean, paid media funnel where the target audience (potential MBA candidates) could be nurtured through their journey from initial awareness and engagement, to the purchase of test preparation products, all the way through to the exam registration.

Based on the historical data, we completely restructured GMAC’s campaigns across all platforms involved, resulting in a channel mix allocation which included paid search, paid social and programmatic display. Creative focused on each step in the customer journey to resonate with users whether they had not yet considered graduate management education, were merely considering it or were ready to purchase study materials or register for the GMAT exam. Specific and measurable KPIs were identified within each stage to gauge campaign success.

The carefully planned funnel, along with remarkably close monitoring of data through our analytics technology and intel, allowed for agile adjustments on all types of allocations from channels, to creatives, to global regions, with the objective of maximizing the efficiency of every marketing dollar.

Results

At the end of the most challenging year in recent times, the overhauled marketing strategy and implementation of the paid media funnel yielded extraordinary results. In 2020, there was up to a 55 percent improvement (decrease) in Cost per Lead and a 70 percent improvement (decrease) in Cost per Registration compared to the previous year (2019). We anticipate continued improvement throughout 2021 as well as funnel stage allocations are adjusted to fine-tune the structure.

55% YoY Decrease in Cost per Lead

 

70% YoY Decrease in Cost per Registration


 

Julie Slovin, GMAC Senior Director of Strategic Marketing notes, “The funnel performed so well that the performance gains that we saw this year I think were so significant that they sort of outweighed the market losses that resulted from the pandemic, from an advertising and marketing effectiveness and efficiency standpoint.” Click here for the full interview.