Cookies are still on the menu
AT some stage of our online lives, we’ve all experienced that creepy feeling of being stalked by the same ads following us around the internet as we jump from one website to another in search of a new set of headphones, a watch or a pair of shoes. While we may only be engaged in the online equivalent of window shopping, unbeknownst to most of us, we have already identified ourselves to a vast adtech industrial complex that we are in the market for whatever it is we have been viewing.
The culprit, of course, is the third-party cookie which tracks our movements online by compiling our browsing history and behaviours — ultimately selling this information to advertisers via a complex and bloated adtech ecosystem.
For the past 25 years, the third-party cookie has been the workhorse of the online advertising industry. It has allowed the various players in the ecosystem to talk to each other and, ultimately, provide access to advertisers looking to flog us something.
An in-depth understanding of what goes on under the hood of the internet is probably beyond the comprehension of most mere mortals.
I have often lost the will to live trying to get my head around what has become an increasingly complex, often opaque, ecosystem. But for digital marketers, their brands and publishers involved in what is likely to be a €294bn global business in 2020, the cookie is an important tool.
So when Google announced last week that its Chrome browser — the default web browser for 69pc of internet users around the world — will no longer allow third-party cookies after 2020, it sent shock waves throughout the digital marketing industry, as everyone rushed to assess what it will mean for the future of digital advertising.
Set against a backdrop of the need for increased data privacy and relatively high rates of ad blocking — 30pc of all internet users now use ad blockers — the move by Google is a big deal.
With the clock now running down, what it will mean in practice remains to be seen. For some, it strengthens Google’s armoury even more, and poses both threats and opportunities to publishers. It may be welcomed with open arms by ordinary punters, who want a less annoying and creepy user experience that protects their personal data.
“The cookie apocalypse has been a long time coming. The advertising industry is quickly moving into a new ‘privacy-first’ era, a place where audience behaviour analysis will not die, but it will fundamentally change,” says John Dunne, managing director of the Dublin-based Ignite Digital.
Somewhat ironically, Google’s move could prove to be a boost to online publishers, many of which have long viewed the digital behemoth as their nemesis.
“The most exposed constituent in the whole ecosystem are publishers as they have most to lose. Publishers need to get ahead of this and start forcing people to log in to their sites. This could be the biggest monetisation opportunity for publishers in decades if they can act fast. Irish publishers, in particular, should look to emulate a country-wide sign-in initiative in Germany, where media owners have attempted to reduce their reliance on cookies for ad targeting,” says Dunne.
For marketers and their brands who might be wary of the industry’s hefty reliance on Google, Dunne says they will need to figure out how they can adapt their own first-party data strategy, because identifying audiences online will become significantly more difficult, though not impossible, post-2022.
In the post-GDPR world, good-quality and actionable first-party data is in many ways the Holy Grail of the marketing world.
A recent survey by eMarketer, for example, noted that 75pc of EU and 85pc of US marketers are prioritising their use of first-party data.
“If brands haven’t built their first-party data strategies, now is the time to act. With less granular data available at scale, brands will have to establish a clear value exchange with consumers to collect their information, whether that’s launching a digital product or service, an e-commerce offering, or a direct-to-consumer brand,” says Dunne.
Not surprisingly, Google itself stands to profit the most from the imminent demise of the third-party cookie. Those who can’t figure out a first-party data strategy could be sucked further into its warm embrace, with access to the digital giant’s own first-party data which, let’s face it, is probably incredibly powerful, given its dominance in the global digital landscape.
But anyone who thinks that the imminent demise of the third-party cookie will lead to less advertising is mistaken. Given that the internet as we know it is largely advertising-funded, we may be able to run, but will we really be able to hide? ◊ Former Leinster and Ireland rugby international Jamie Heaslip has joined the peer-to-peer lending firm Flender as its head of brand marketing, having served as a brand ambassador since 2017.
Located in Dublin’s Docklands, Flender lent Irish SMEs €13m last year and plans to grow this to €75m this year. Heaslip’s role will be to promote brand awareness of Flender and develop its marketing communications. ◊ With the affordability of housing for first-time buyers back on the agenda in the run-up to the general election, EBS is the first mortgage lender out of the traps in 2020 with a new campaign called Start Here. It takes an atypical view of the typical customer experience at the beginning of the mortgage journey.
Created by BBDO Dublin, the new cross-platform campaign is the latest iteration in the mortgage lender’s Mortgage Masters campaign, which has been running for the past three years.