Google’s decision to not drop third-party cookies on Chrome shouldn’t have come as a surprise. While third-party cookies have been the black sheep of online advertising for years – perceived as an easy way for publishers to collect data with a lack of appreciation of consumer rights – Google struggled to gain industry support for deprecation.
What was surprising was how long it took Google to figure this out. The good news is that the work put in by advertisers to find a workaround hasn’t been in vain: it’s taught them exactly how much smarter consumers are today about how their data is being shared, monetized and utilized.
As a result, it doesn’t matter today whether the cookie stays or goes. As an industry, we need to take a deep breath and collectively agree a new north star. With the increase in consumer data regulations and laws like GDPR and CCPA, the priority for advertisers has to become consumer choice – empowering people to understand how their data is being used and their privacy is protected.
Balancing privacy and consumer concerns
The idea of removing third-party cookies implied that consumers couldn’t make their own decisions around privacy and their data. This might have felt true 15 years ago. But it’s clear that today’s consumers are savvy, informed and aware.
Balancing privacy concerns with technology forces the advertising industry into a direct relationship with consumers. Presented with a choice, consumers become more empowered and at the same time, marketers get to operate with the data that these consumers consent to provide. In fact, there are many cases where consumers want to provide consent in exchange for compelling rewards, like receiving personalized offers or avoiding sensitive marketing.
What we need now is more transparency: publishers should simplify their cookie opt-in language to concisely explain exactly what cookies will power, win consumers’ trust and enable monetization.
The wider implications of a cookie-less world
We can’t talk about cookies without talking about content. Where publishers used to depend on audience numbers to drive the value of impressions, the threat of cookie deprecation forced many to implement login walls, if not direct paywalls, to gather user data.
Struggling to get enough revenue from ad impressions, publishers started limiting how much quality content could be accessed for free. This created a gap wherein misinformation could flourish, perpetuated by bots or foreign actors distributing fake content on free websites. This became bigger than an advertiser problem – in a world where trust in news media continues to decline, access to wide set of reputable and verifiable publishers and media sources is critical.
By focusing on consumer choice, publishers can reclaim a model that allows them to thrive, while still ensuring that everyone has access to trusted quality content.
It all comes down to trust. Regardless of what happens to cookies, access to high quality first-party data remains a necessary evolution within the advertising industry. That’s why it has been a priority for Kantar to build direct integrations to access data in a safe transparent way, supporting publishers and advertisers to measure campaign ROI for future growth without compromising consumers’ data.
We build trust with consumers by engaging directly with them, which in turn enables us to access the data required to run accurate brand lift studies. Our global panels reach more than 170 million fully consented respondents in over 100 markets and we work hard to keep our panelists engaged so that the data we get in is high quality – in fact, our respondents are so engaged they complete 176% more surveys than the industry average.
What lies ahead
Google’s reprieve for cookies may help build transparency in the short term, but the real opportunity lies in our collective ability to innovate beyond them. Technologies like data clean rooms, where publishers share aggregated data with advertisers, are strongly aligned with greater consumer privacy. Remember that consumers will likely demand even more transparency as time moves on, especially as they become more aware of the ways in which data is being used to train technologies like generative AI. The importance of responsible, ethical data handling and use is more important than ever.
Our north star remains clear: putting consumer choice at the heart of everything we do. By embracing technologies that prioritize privacy, fostering trust, and continually aligning with the needs and rights of consumers, we can build a future where advertising not only thrives but does so in a way that benefits everyone.