TECH TALK The ‘Cookiepocalypse’ Is Here … and we’re not sure if it’s the crumbly kind. After Google announced its plan to do away with third-party cookies, marketers must look to alternative ways to reach customers, though concerns about the plan remain. This month, Google was slated to complete the full phaseout of web cookies on its Chrome browser, a plan first announced two years ago in an effort to better protect user privacy. The tech giant has announced it’s postponing this effort until late 2023, but the decision has already stirred concerns for marketers as it will affect their ability to reach targeted audiences using their personal data. Because of the personal information that cookies collect and share with thirdparty vendors, they expose users to the possibility of having their data bought, sold and otherwise used without their knowledge. One of the common problems that Google is working to curtail through this decision is fingerprinting, or the act of websites identifying users through data leaked from the browser. Cookies, explained. Also known as HTTP cookies, these pieces of data are small text files that save bits of information to the internet browser being used, helping websites to remember the user by exchanging information between the server and the browser. In their most basic form, cookies are used to remember users’ login information, record their visits to the same website over time, store their preferences and remember the items in their cart. A certain type, tracking cookies, allow third parties to collect specific information about the user, such as their age, gender, location, interests and online behaviors, and then use this information to serve them targeted advertisements. Cookies in action. Because of the information that tracking cookies provide to third parties, they allow brands to serve users with advertisements that are based on their interests and specific wants and needs, improving the overall user experience. For example, if a user begins searching for content about motherhood and baby products, tracking cookies would store this information, relay it to the servers the browser is communicating with, and translate this into advertisements for products like bottles, blankets, diapers and baby clothes. Without cookies, companies have to seek alternative ways to serve targeted customers, such as email sign-ups, loyalty or incentive programs, or requesting users to create accounts to access free content. A new solution in the making. In place of third-party cookies, Google plans on using a new technology called federated learning of cohorts (FLoC). FLoC is designed to identify algorithms in users’ browsing histories using open-source information, and then place these users into a pool with thousands of others, or cohorts, with similar search histories. Users would be served ads accordingly and without the use of personal information. A FLoC ID indicates the label for the behavioral group or groups users are placed in, and users will have the ability to opt out of FloC at any time. However, FloC has been the target of much speculation, citing that FloC, indeed, is designed to collect and share user information, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation calling FloC “a terrible idea.” Alternatives for companies. Apple’s Safari browser and Mozilla’s Firefox stopped using third-party cookies, and companies have long been using alternatives. In addition to acquiring data through efforts like email sign-ups, loyalty and incentives programs, interactive user experiences and requiring sign-ups, another strategy is contextual targeting, which enables marketers to display advertisements only on relevant websites. According to the results of a 2020 survey of 259 U.S. marketers by Epsilon, 79.5 percent of marketers rely on third-party cookies, with half of them (38.6 percent) saying they’re “very reliant,” which means this change certainly poses a dilemma if they are forced to restructure some of their marketing strategies. TarikVision / Shutterstock.com 76 | MARCH 2022 | THINK
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