By Owen Prior
This is the second blog in our series Navigating the Data Revolution: Your Guide to Third-Party Cookies, Consent Mode, and Data Privacy in 2024.
As privacy laws for advertisers tighten and Google calls time on third-party cookies, we know it’s a confusing time for marketers. How will this impact on tracking? How will Google Ads work?
The Measurement team here at Launch has been working hard on a blog series to help you navigate these changes. In part one, we examined Consent Mode in Google Ads (including action needed by March 2024).
In this instalment of the series we will look at the phase out of third-party cookies and how you can adapt your ads and tracking.
Remember, our measurement team is always here to answer your questions if you need us.
Death of third-party cookies – what’s changing?
Third-party cookies share a user’s data with other advertisers when you visit a website to help build advertising audiences. These are the cookies which privacy laws and consumer rights campaigners have worked hard to abolish.
A first-party cookie is more straightforward. It’s only shared to the business of the site you’re viewing, so no data sharing goes on, and by accepting a site cookie notice consumers are granting permission for their activity to be tracked by that business.
So, are Google about to turn off all cookies? No, but it’s looking likely it will block some on their flagship browser, Google Chrome. Google announced from the end of 2024 users of the Chrome web browser will automatically have third-party cookies blocked. They have already rolled out the update to 1% of Chrome users to start testing the impact.
As first-party cookies are mainly there to improve user experience on a site (e.g. storing login details), they will continue to use these, but it is essential to have a consent banner with a reject all button on your site so users have the choice.
How do I know if my site uses third party cookies?
Check your privacy policy, and your cookie management platform. Tools like OneTrust automatically categorise each cookie on your site, identifying their purpose (essential, advertising or analytics) and if they’re of a first or third-party design.
Google (being Google) has also set up an environment called Flags, which is a handy tool for marketers to use to analyse their sites in controlled environments. For example, in this situation you could run your site with the third-party cookies removed and see if it breaks anything.
Be mindful when you’re using things like Google Flags that this could have some adverse effects on your site. We’d suggest you always check with your dev team or measurement team before you do anything!
How will Google Ads work without third-party cookies?
Google Ads is Google’s most profitable product, so with the death of the third-party cookie looming, Google will need to do something to keep this product at the top of its game.
Enter the Privacy Sandbox. Exact details are limited and complex right now, but in essence, it takes an alternative approach to third party cookies, using API signals collected from the Chrome browser to add users to three new ads APIs: Topics, Protected Audience and Attribution.
One of the most significant changes will be something called Obfuscation. This is a feature Google is introducing to the collection of the data. Google says that it will add ‘noise’ to some of the reporting so we are not able to identify a specific user.
It’s unclear right now if/how performance will change but the Privacy Sandbox promises to offer a far more advanced approach to privacy online, and a compelling alternative to third-party cookies.
Will all my tracking stop?
No, but you need to act to avoid a potential impact on performance.
Alongside the announcement of the Privacy Sandbox, Google is also recommending implementing its recent features, like Consent Mode and Enhanced Conversions.
For non-Google platforms start by identifying which of your analytics, marketing and advertising tools use third-party cookies.
Once identified, check what alternative setups the platform provider offers. This might be enabling first-party data collection, or server-based tracking setups like Meta’s Conversion API.
In summary…
Google will phase out third party cookies by the end of 2024, but this doesn’t mean all your tracking will stop. As long as you put in place features like Consent Mode and Enhanced Conversions you can continue to benefit from customer data. Google is also working on tools such as Privacy Sandbox to ensure access to data is not lost. A sweep of any platforms or analytics tools you use outside of Google Ads is also worthwhile to see if they offer an alternative setup to using third-party cookies.
Need to know more?
This data consent checklist from the experts at Hybrid Legal is essential reading for marketing teams who want to ensure they are meeting data consent standards.
The Launch measurement team is here to help with any questions. Launch is a Google Premier partner and our experienced team is OneTrust certified, meaning we’ve got the knowledge and connections to help you work through your cookie and consent conundrums. Click here to get in touch.
This is the second blog in our series Navigating the Data Revolution: Your Guide to Third-Party Cookies, Consent Mode, and Data Privacy in 2024. For links to the other blogs in the series see below:
