Introduction
After months of discussion, Google has finally decided to keep the third-party cookies (3PC) in its Chrome browsers. In a recent announcement by Google, it was announced that it won’t be “deprecating third-party cookies, but it’s introducing a “new experience in Chrome” that lets users make an informed preference across their web browsing, which they can adjust at any time. Following this statement, Google has also decided to continue the “Privacy Sandbox APIs available and support users to further enhance privacy and utility.”
For many industry professionals, the decision has caught them in wonder, sending shockwaves across the marketing and advertising landscape after much effort, especially in the B2C marketing industry, as it turns out that relying on owned customer information and diversifying from third-party cookies has already paid off.
The same applies to the B2B marketing realm. 3PC is aiding digital advertisers to adjust their strategies, especially when it comes to display or paid search ads.
But the bigger concern is “What’s next?”
MarTech Cube’s perspective on this current trendsetter is to aid our readers with an understanding of what marketers need to focus on precisely when it comes to the power of 3PC and how it can ensure customer privacy without disrupting the marketing lifecycle.
What Marketers Should Do Now?
Post-announcement, industry experts estimated that Google’s reversal on 3PC may take the stress off of marketers, as now they are gradually shifting to rely on methods towards using Google cookies to continue to be smart businesses. Our esteemed guest on MarTech Cube, Heidi Bullock, CMO at Tealium, shares her two cents with us on this topic and graciously states that:
“So, it’s essentially a win-win for everyone. Heidi explains the critical importance of leveraging first-party data over third-party cookies clearly and straightforwardly, allowing buyers to provide information directly and with full consent. We couldn’t agree more with Heidi’s insights.”
Hear Heidi Bullock’s Insights on First-Party Data in her Podcast on MarTech Cube: Click here.
Picking up from where we left off, 2024 has been a rollercoaster for marketers who are looking at Google 3PC as the best solution to start their customer data journey just by experimenting with contextual targeting, drafting more compelling creatives, and different identity resolution tactics. It’s imperative to learn that refining contemporary data strategies is needed to identify what kind of data is required to build a marketing model, segment it, and evaluate for clean data that aligns with your business goals.
To be honest, 3PC is not just for frontline marketers who are dealing directly with customers, but it is also an essential tool for publishers who want to know about their customers to understand their preferences and aid advertisers in creating content that will appeal to the audiences eventually circling the whole sales journey.
While third-party cookies have been crucial for both marketers and publishers in understanding customer preferences and guiding the sales journey, AI is increasingly becoming essential in this new era of personalization and privacy.
How Will the Concept of AI Personalization Work?
Recent advancements in technology such as AI and machine learning (ML) have unlocked new opportunities where marketers can enable better analysis of customer behavior, along with allowing more precise and relevant guidance. This also enables retailers to capture the essence and further respond to the preference in real-time, improving the conversion rates.
While ML uses third-party data to fill in the gaps, data is directly gathered from first-party sources that make more specific and contextual decisions. However, with the reversal of the decision, ML models can focus on quality over quantity; this implies that AI now can help generate more highly personalized one-to-one marketing.
Just like how Heidi explained with the analogy of “Garbage In Garbage Out’ and how a lot of the large global enterprises are looking at AI as a good prediction or generalizing a pattern because customer data is everything. You understand what people buy, what they like. You can understand the health of a customer. And so it’s the number one thing people should be focused on and making sure they have a good strategy in place.”
Is Privacy a Real Issue?
With the 3PC finally coming to power, marketers have to adhere to government regulations such as the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA),While this information is a big relief for marketers, the real deal would be getting customers’ data and adhering to data privacy laws and regulations. which imply that sites must request permission so that consumer-sensitive data is not misused.
On this line of thought, Google’s Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox, quoted that the updated approach “elevates user choice,” as it is viewed as an optimized and reinforced foundation that anticipates numerous privacy-centric approaches. This initiative aids brands in communicating ethical data collection procedures transparently with customers, including the value they accept in exchange.
What’s Next?
This evolution has been completely overhauled, allowing both B2C and B2B marketers to make gradual adaptations. However, as marketers embrace Google’s third-party cookies as a permanent solution, they will use this time to innovate and adapt rather than simply maintain sorting out relevant datasets.
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