As the name suggests, the cookieless future refers to a recent shift away from using third-party cookies for various purposes.
But what's so significant about this? While you probably already know what a cookie is, you may not know just how frequently they're used — or the privacy concerns they've presented.
On the web, cookies are small files containing user data that help identify you and your computer. This user data might include your username, password, or email address.
Since their main purpose is identification, cookies are largely used for exactly that: telling websites who you are. As you might imagine, this makes cookies useful for many applications, from maintaining login sessions to delivering ads through contextual targeting.
First-party cookies: Cookies served directly from the site you're visiting. These are usually used to maintain sessions, so you'll stay logged in the next time you visit. In most cases, first-party data is safe as long as the website you're visiting hasn't been compromised.
Third-party cookies: Cookies served from third parties that aren't on the site you're visiting. These cookies are usually linked to third parties through ads or other features. As a result, even the most well-intentioned site owner can be a channel for third-party cookies if, for example, they list ads from third parties with less-than-reputable practices.
When referring to the cookieless future, we are specifically talking about third-party cookies. These cookies are often used by advertisers and social media platforms to tailor personalized ads to a user. However, in the process of doing this, they make it possible to collect a significant amount of detailed information, which might contribute to creating a highly intricate user profile, often without receiving informed or explicit user consent.
This has led to significant consumer pushback, with over 83% of users in the UK citing concerns about online tracking for advertising purposes. Despite well-meaning attempts to resolve this, users often don't fully understand what they're consenting to when accepting a website's consent form.
We have to come to terms with the fact that a cookieless future is upon us. On the one hand, we understand the consumers' need to safeguard their data and privacy, but on the other hand we know how difficult it will be for advertisers to effectively do their job.
How to prepare then? Look for cookieless future solutions that do not require third-party cookies and solely rely on first-party cookies.
