The dust is still settling after Google’s abrupt late-July pivot on cookies (they’re here indefinitely).
Now what?
The reaction of advertisers has ranged from disbelief to sheer relief.
It’s true – cookies sticking around will help give us more data to work with. But, for a few reasons, cookies in their future state are going to be kind of like Voldemort with his Horcruxes getting dismantled one by one: weakened and getting closer to extinction.
Let’s be honest. Third-party cookies were never perfect, even at their best.
Chrome aside, the fact that some browsers (e.g., Firefox) started automatically blocking third-party cookies a while ago is just one of a number of significant, known shortcomings. And with Chrome preparing to release a much more in-your-face option for users to opt out of tracking, third-party cookies will become significantly less reliable.
Now, we don’t really know yet how Google will roll out the opt-out process or whether they’ll have tricks to get people to opt in. There’s a big variable of user behavior given what the opt-out process looks like and how people react. The impact of the opt-out process could eat at the margins of cookies or it could a bigger hit – at this point, we’re just speculating.
Given all of that, what I’m focusing on with my clients isn’t really about cookies at all – yes, I’ll enjoy the data we’ll continue to get, even as the scale of that data decreases. But the approach we’re recommending going forward boils down to:
Server-side tracking to collect first-party data
Setting up advanced platform analytics (Enhanced Conversions, CAPI, offline conversion tracking) and shoring up CRM data
Testing different ways of looking at attribution
Aligning on North Star KPIs
Keeping a close eye on industry news and trends
Let’s take a closer look at each.
1. Server-side tracking
Third-party cookies (which are what all the fuss has been about) collect data on the browser side; any data you’re getting from third-party cookies in browsers like Chrome is third-party data. Because you don’t own that data, you’re vulnerable to getting the rug pulled.
Server-side tracking, on the other hand, which you can collect by setting up CDPs and/or server-side Google Tag Manager tracking, uses first-party cookies to collect data that you own.
Server-side tracking is a newer, less-known initiative. It’s more complicated than setting up tracking with third-party cookies. But even if third-party cookies persist, browser limitations leave advertisers vulnerable to data gaps like:
Browser blocking.
Data privacy regulations.
Cookie deletion time frames.
Cross-browser activity.
Privacy regulations.
Server-side tracking bypasses those limitations and any client-side ad blockers. It’s an investment that allows you to improve your data and the accuracy of your conversion tracking.
Make sure to research your options for collecting server-side data – including, if you don’t have the internal resources, partnering with a vendor or agency that has already helped brands through the process.
2. Advanced platform analytics
One of the benefits of Google’s almost comically long “endangered species” stage of cookies is that both platforms and advertisers have had time to implement alternate tracking solutions.
Whether it’s Google’s Enhanced Conversions, Meta and LinkedIn’s CAPI models, or offline conversion tracking that integrates CRM data within ad platforms, advertisers have more ways than they did a few years ago to understand how online actions actually impact pipeline and revenue in any vertical.
If you don’t have Enhanced Conversions or CAPI set up, even as cookies persist, put a top priority on getting them live.
With or without cookies, they give bidding algorithms more and richer data to work with to identify high-value users with a propensity to take the actions you most want them to take.
The other piece of this is making sure your CRM is set up well enough to be a solid point of truth (do not rely on platforms to give you the unbiased cross-channel picture). This means having a system to clean and segment your data and feed that data back into the platforms on a regular, consistent basis.
3. A broader perspective on analytics
Even when third-party cookies were more intact, they couldn’t tell you which purchases or engagements were incremental or give you a perspective on how your media mix could be optimized to drive more revenue.
If you haven’t experimented with lift tests to assess the actual impact of your ads (I like well-structured geo lift tests for this), that’s something to put on your roadmap. Ditto with testing MMM tools (Meta’s Robyn, for instance, requires dev resources but is otherwise free to use) that can get you familiar with the concept of using historical media data to fine-tune your budget allocations.
Those are both initiatives that measure very different things than cookies, and they can help you understand where and how to spend money more effectively.
4. Alignment on KPIs
Cookies or not, it’s still more common than you might think to encounter brands that have too many KPIs in focus or simply aren’t aligned on the one most important goal.
Without consensus on the KPI that’s most important to grow or improve, talking about cookie tracking is putting the cart before the horse.
5. News and trend monitoring
It’s been hard to miss some of this year’s headlines, even if you don’t start your day with a cup of coffee and a few minutes with your favorite industry outlets.
But it’s important to look beyond the headlines of what’s happening to gauge how it’s affecting similar organizations, and what may be coming in the not-so-distant future.
Find sources (outlets or individuals) that you trust.
Stay in close contact as news and trends emerge.
Do the work to predict how you can be more effective at your job, whether it’s as an individual contributor or a team leader who needs to make sure their org is fully stocked with skills that will matter in 12-24 months.
Enjoy the data for now. But…
Make sure you develop the skills and systems that will put your analytics future in your hands, not Google’s.
First-party data collection, CRM integrity, advanced analytics, a shared vision for success – I can just about guarantee you all of those will still be relevant when Google finally cuts the cookie cord.
Don’t let cookies sticking around a little longer give you false hope; they should not be an integral part of your strategy for the long term.
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