Will the cookie U-turn spell good fortune for CXO specialists?
If you’re a little perplexed about the state of cookies right now, you’re not alone. After several years of doing the cookie Hokey Cokey – is it in? is it out? – Google has finally announced that third-party cookies are definitely, absolutely staying. Sort of. One thing is certain, understanding the conversion journey and being able to optimise it looks set to be as confusing as ever.
This matters because optimised CX and successful conversion rate optimisation (CRO) depends on understanding customers’ online behaviours. Who has visited your website, which of those has returned, and why? This user data feeds CX strategies, providing insights for essential experimentation to understand attribution, refine CX and CRO and create optimised campaigns.
Instead of deprecating the cookie, Google’s Chrome browser is promising a “new experience” of “elevated informed user choice” aiming at a 2025 launch. At the time of writing, what this experience would be remains unclear but industry sources suggest it will involve some form of tracking consent or continued opt-in to cookies.
This has already led to some unforeseen actions. Immediately after Google announced its reversal, several legacy UK publishers revealed plans to introduce “consent or pay” walls – users can choose to accept cookies for free content access, or deny tracking (but still receive ads, albeit less relevant) for a small fee.
A tangled web
Building a comprehensive CXO and CRO strategy around half in, half out users will be challenging, for sure but there is a precedent to help understand probable future scenarios. In 2021, when Apple announced opt-out tracking on iOS 14, it disrupted attribution for marketers and agencies. The effectiveness of ads hadn’t changed but the ability to track and measure this had certainly become more difficult.
Apple’s decision actually provided the industry with an experiment on customer behaviours in regard to tracking and given there was only a 5% opt in rate a few months after the update, it doesn’t bode well for opt in cookies.
Brands also must bear in mind data privacy is an issue for a growing number of consumers. Outside already strict regulations, consumers could well be more protective of where they share their data. Although apparently, there’s still a healthy number of people who don’t even know what cookies are.
Tackling the tracking challenge
The landscape may be complex but there are options. When cookie deprecation was first announced, some more forward-thinking CRO strategists took this as an opportunity to refine what was still a relatively blunt instrument when it comes to effective audience targeting. In the four years since, a ‘cookieless playbook’ has emerged, with five key best practice elements:
1. Invest in First-Party Data: Yes, it requires a change of strategy to one of pro-active data collection and does need a focus on data protection regulations but it has wider implications for the business than just advertising. Boosting first-party data improves customer relationship management (CRM) and drives deeper customer engagement. But remember to deliver value for data.
2. Leverage Privacy-Safe Alternatives: Google’s Privacy Sandbox offers APIs that allow advertisers to target in a privacy-first way. The rapid rise of retail media is also providing a privacy-first alternative with deeper audience insights.
3. Focus on Contextual Advertising: Basing ads on the content they’re viewed against rather than trying to predict the audience profile has more potential to deliver relevance and is a less intrusive experience.
4. Strengthen Direct Customer Relationships: Value-added content, increasing the number of direct communication channels and encouraging longer term interaction beyond the purchase cycle can mitigate the loss of third-party data.
5. Adopt Consent Management Platforms (CMPs): The use of a CMP demonstrates a strong commitment to data security, keeps the organisation’s use of data on track and keeps customers on-side when requesting more information.
Further actions can include taking a server-side tracking approach which provides a more secure, controllable environment over what data is collected, using identity solutions such as Unified ID 2.0 are also privacy compliant ways of tracking, or simply promote the use of login systems, leveraging first-party relationships.
Stay customer-centric
With all the Google dithering, it’s understandable that some advertising organisations are basically ‘done with all this.’ According to AdAge, Omnicom Media Group sent a fairly emphatic “point of view” to its clients: “It is not beneficial for brands and advertisers to consider testing the Privacy Sandbox at its current state.”
For its part, Google seems to be sticking to its pre-announcement advice, with its Privacy Sandbox portal suggesting advertisers audit their third-party cookie usage, test for breakage and migrate to privacy preserving solutions. For those looking to work out how to operate in a cookieless environment regardless, Google suggests focusing on critical user experiences and “exploring temporary options” such as the deprecation trial.
Given that the threat of deprecation has been looming over advertisers’ heads for almost four years now, it’s surprising that only a quarter of advertisers state they are prepared for cookies to vanish. But for all those that have put in the time to research and experimented with alternatives, it’s not wasted work if it focused minds on being customer-centric in how data is gathered and used.
Future data-gathering looks likely to be based on a blend of the highly prized first party data, cookie data from a Chrome user base that could be as low as 10% and non-personally identifiable data, alongside other sources. It might look daunting but it is going to be an exciting challenge for data scientists and the CX and CRO specialists who work alongside them.
If your business does not have the capability to evaluate the implications of the Google decision for your own CX and CRO we’re happy to provide advice and help you develop appropriate strategies. Do contact us.
