In a blog published on Jul 22, 2024 Google announced that its long awaited plan to deprecate 3rd-party cookies on Chrome is likely not happening. The blog stated that given how much work it would take and the interruptions it would cause the digital ad industry, Google is looking for other options to keep 3rd party cookies and give users more control of how their data is used.
So what does this mean for brands who currently use 3rd party cookies and have been planning for a future without them? Here are thoughts from Acadia’s experts on the recent Google News.
Alan Carroll, Head of Paid Media
“If you're an advertiser who has been updating tracking over the last few years and is prepared for 3P cookie deprecation, this news doesn't really change much. The ball has already started rolling, with other platforms adopting their own conversion APIs, and that's not going to stop anytime soon. This just provides a little breathing room.
If you're an unprepared advertiser, you've had your head in the sand for four years and you probably didn't see this news either. But if you did see it, you're breathing a massive sigh of relief. Though this does not change the fact that 3P cookies continue to become less reliable as privacy solutions gain traction and cookie blocking becomes more prevalent.
No future solution that I can think of will beat the accuracy of 3P cookies in all their glory because they're just that invasive from a consumer privacy standpoint. So the likely future state is continued innovation towards individual platform conversion APIs (further segmenting your data) balanced with some continued use of 3P cookies. We're not getting back the targeting accuracy of 6-7 yrs ago, but we're also not losing the best tools very abruptly.
Scott Walldren, Head of SEO
From an SEO perspective, this decision reinforces the need for robust first-party data strategies and high-quality content that engages users directly. While third-party cookies remain for now, we should continue focusing on privacy-compliant practices and integrated marketing strategies to build trust and maintain strong SEO performance. This is an opportunity to solidify our foundation in anticipation of future changes.