Blog.
Retail media and the cookieless future: your questions answered
It's been one of the longest running "will they/won't they" storylines since Ross first showed Rachel how to do the laundry. After three years and numerous delays, though, Google is finally moving ahead with plans to deprecate third-party cookies on its Chrome web browser. For brands, many of whom have come to rely on cookies for the effective targeting of digital ads, the implications are significant.
While Google has introduced its own post-cookie solution in the form of its Privacy Sandbox, our own experiences suggest most brands are still uncertain about what they need to do as a result. That's why, in this post, we're going to look at everything cookieless – from the basics of what's going on, to some of the biggest questions that we've received from across our network of brands and agencies.
Let's start at the start. What's a cookie?
Cookies are simple text files that are stored in web browsers like Google Chrome. Cookies record certain information about how someone interacts with a website – which pages they visit, for instance, or how long they spend on each.
Naturally, that kind of information is valuable to marketers. With the right tools and techniques, brands and agencies can use cookies to:
- Get a better understanding of visitor behaviour.
- Deliver personalised content, advertising, or recommendations.
- Track people's activity across different websites, and deliver targeted ads based on their behaviours as they navigate the web.
What's a third-party cookie? How is it different to any other kind of cookie?
First-party cookies are those used by the owner or publisher of a website. They tend to be used to create a more personalised experience, remembering things like login details and preferences (whether someone likes a light or dark theme for a webpage, for instance).
Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are placed on a website by someone other than the owner. Typically, that will be an advertiser, social media network, or web analytics provider. Third-party cookies are the ones that can help build up a picture of someone as they move between different sites.
Of the two types, it's only third-party cookies that are included in the deprecation process discussed here (which simply means they will no longer be supported).
Cookies and Chrome: what's the big deal?
In January 2020 – and in what it described as a move "to make the web more private and secure for users1" – Google announced its intention to make third-party cookies obsolete. The tech giant stressed that it was doing so in response to web users "demanding greater privacy – including transparency, choice and control over how their data is used".
While Google initially suggested it would remove third-party cookies by 2022, that ambitious timeline was eventually moved back. One of the main reasons for the delay was the need for additional testing on the company's Privacy Sandbox for the Web, a set of web standards designed to enhance user privacy while providing publishers and advertisers with alternative ways to serve relevant content and ads.
And what's happening now?
Those long-delayed plans are finally in motion. At the start of January, Google turned off third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users2 – a staggering 30m people in real terms. The company has also reaffirmed plans to do the same for remaining 99% of users by the end of Q3 2024.
For some advertisers, that spells trouble. By the end of the year, they'll find it fundamentally harder – and in some cases impossible – to understand, track, and engage with their digital audiences as they did before. The scale of the impact here could be huge; even as late as Q3 2023, 87% of programmatic ad buys across the food and drink industry in the US were still using cookies as the basis.3
The removal of cookies isn't the only issue here, though. In spite of significant testing by Google, the Privacy Sandbox has come in for criticism as well. Writing in ExchangeWire's Industry Review 2024, ISBA Head of Media Dan Larden noted that the Sandbox "lists 40 different APIs all with niche and very specific capability" and that its "targeting, planning and reporting layers still feel very underwhelming compared to what we are used to"4.
Okay. So what can I do about that?
That's where there's some good news. While third-party cookies might be going away, there are other solutions.
At Tesco Media & Insight Platform, for instance, our Partners media solution offers a cookieless answer to digital targeting. Partners:
- Integrates directly with social platforms like Meta and Pinterest, and Connected TV providers including ITVX, Sky, and Channel 4.
- Enables brands and agencies to deliver targeted campaigns across the open web via a partnership with The Trade Desk.
Most importantly, Partners uses data from consented Clubcard holders UK-wide. This diverse, behavioural first-party dataset eliminates the need for third-party cookies altogether, allowing advertisers to engage with highly specific audiences based on their actual shopping behaviours. What's more, the people who make up those audiences are keen to receive personalised content; 80% of grocery shoppers are more likely to shop with a retailer that offers personalised recommendations and promotions.
The insights that underpin Partners can also help advertisers to sharpen up their marketing strategies and media plans alike.
How do I get started?
If you're concerned about losing your ability to reach, optimise and measure effectively over the year ahead, then we can help. Get in touch now, and find out more about how we can create a tailored media plan that keeps your brand connected in 2024 and beyond.
1 Building a more private web: A path towards making third party cookies obsolete – Google Chromium Blog, 14th January 2020
2 Google turns off cookies for 30 million Chrome users, and that's just 1% - eMarketer, 8th January 2024
3 Advertising still looking for ingredient to replace cookies – eMarketer, 4th January 2024
4 Industry Review 2024 - ExchangeWire