The Post-Cookie Future: Why the Loss of Third-Party Cookies Is Nothing to Fear

People in our industry have spent a lot of time talking about the “loss” of third-party cookies, suggesting that the end result of Google’s deprecation of these identifiers in Chrome will ultimately represent a setback for digital marketing. But what if we were to flip that notion on its head for a second? What if this “loss” is actually a gain for our industry?

No doubt, third-party cookie deprecation is having and will continue to have significant short-term repercussions for publishers, advertisers and ad tech providers alike. But the third-party cookie has also been widely acknowledged in the same circles as being highly flawed and incomplete as a method of targeting consumers.

In solving for the “loss” of third-party cookies, we have an opportunity to build a more complete and more sustainable approach to data-driven marketing, both in terms of retention and acquisition. Here at Eyeota, we’re investing in transparent and future-proof means of helping marketers enrich their audience understandings and activate those insights across channels. Here are three areas where we think a post-cookie world can and should serve marketers better:

Identity in Other Browsers: Lest we forget, the forthcoming deprecation of third-party cookies by Google is specific to Chrome. And while Chrome represents a huge venue for online user activity, it’s not the only browser in the game. The utility of third-party cookies was lost in environments like Firefox and Safari long ago. At Eyeota, we’ve been solving for the challenges of targeting in those environments for years by investing in ID-agnostic tools that can unite a view of consumers across browsers.