‘We will not build alternate identifiers’: Google’s latest decision to end their Google cookie tracking and behavioral tracking could really impact advertisers hugely. The news comes as Google looks to escape pressures from regulators, with regards to data privacy and antitrust.
In reaction, Google seeks to end behavioral targeting and profile-building in its ad products. This news may not come as a tremendous shock to some, with regulators piling on the pressure recently. However, this news may be may frustrate advertisers, who use Google cookie tracking to help them identify users across websites and sessions. Nonetheless, it is a great move for the world of data privacy.
Google Director, David Temkin Broke the News
“Today, we’re making explicit that once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products,” wrote David Temkin, ‘Director of Product Management, Ads Privacy and Trust’, in a company blog post, published on 3rd March 2021.
How Advertisers will be Impacted by Google’s Cookie Tracking Changes
Currently, we know the following information:
- Google’s targeting changes and modifications will go into effect as soon as it officially stops recognizing third-party cookies in their other product, the Google Chrome browser. In January 2020, Google mentioned that it would do this by 2023.
- Also, Google will no longer build user-level profiles within its ad products
- Advertisers will be able to continue targeting their own consumer databases through their own first-party data on Google properties, including products such as Google’s search results pages and YouTube.
- Google will not use such data to enable targeting on non-Google sites, which also means Google’s AdX ad exchange and other services that target ads to web inventory outside Google properties will no longer support any cookie replacement identifiers.
- Google’s new ad targeting changes focus on the open web and will not apply to the mobile application adverts purchased and sold using Google’s ad tech.
- Google isn’t editing any policies for how publishers collect or use data gathered directly from users. As a result, a publisher that uses Google’s ad tech will still be able to sell ads that are targeted based on the publisher’s first-party data.
- Google will continue to allow the targeting of users across its own properties as of when people are logged in to their Google accounts. For example, if a user is logged in to their Google account and searches for a ‘new Louis Vuitton jumper’ on Google’s search engine, Google may aim a similar luxury clothing brand’s advert to that person inside another Google property, like YouTube.
What are Cookies?
Why Businesses Use Ad-Tracking, like Google Cookie Tracking.
We’ve spoken about how Facebook and Google use website code pixels to track user behaviour on websites themselves. Cookies have also been very important in the modern era of the internet. However, they are considered a vulnerability to the privacy of users. As an important part of web browsing, HTTP cookies enable businesses to give users more personal and convenient website visits. Cookies help websites to remember you, your website logins, shopping carts, and other website tracking behaviours. Google cookie tracking has been an important tool in the arsenal of markets for years.
The Risks Associated with Ad-Tracking Cookies.
Despite this, they are considered a security risk, and chest of private information for criminals to spy on, and businesses to access. Not only that, but cookies also can negatively impact user experiences, as consumers often criticise the intrusive nature of personalised adverts.
Nonetheless, Cookies are very useful because they help businesses to track users across sessions, retarget users, build lookalike audiences seed pools, attribute sales to ad clicks exclude purchasers, and a lot more.
How the Major Change may Impact Your Business
So Google’s choice to eliminate cookies is a major change, which will impact nearly every business around the world. However, we at Surge Pilot believe that the news is not as damaging as it may seem. There is a bright future ahead, without Google cookie tracking.
As always, there will be winners and losers. And if you have a highly skilled paid social specialist, you need not worry. In fact, it may even help you to outperform your current campaigns. Why? Because other less experienced advertisers will lose market-share, which provides you with a huge opportunity.
Apple’s New Data Privacy Feature Damages Facebook’s Business Model
Apple, are also heavily focusing on protecting the privacy of people around the world. Recently, they chose to give users more control of the ad-tracking cookies which monitor their behaviour. Now, iPhone users will be notified every time an app seeks to track their iPhone behaviours across applications. The general assumption is that most iPhone users will reject this request. As result, this could really negatively impact the world’s ability to personalise adverts.
The move has very much frustrated Facebook, because this move majorly impacts Facebook’s ad revenue model, and could potentially harm small businesses that use Facebook advertising to grow their businesses. As an advertiser, Apple’s new feature is not great news. Despite this, we don’t think you should worry too much. We believe that the most skilled in running paid social adverts will be less impacted by the latest changes.
The Future, After Google Cookie Tracking
Google has been a part of our lives for decades now. Google helped create and grow the digital ad ecosystem that has always relied on tracking and targeting ads to people across the web. But, with data privacy being pushed on the agenda more and more by regulators in the US Senate, Google, Apple, Facebook, and other global businesses are under huge pressure to change the way they handle the data of users.
The impact on digital ad targeting and measurement throughout Google’s ad universe could be extreme. But many details on just how the changes might affect specific ad products are yet to be determined.
On the other side, we at Surge Pilot see this as a huge opportunity for brands to capitalise.