How Business Owners Can Use Google's Delay to Delete Third-Party Cookies to Their Advantage

In recent years, advertisers have heard of Google's apparent move away from third-party cookies. It's a big deal, and most people in the advertising industry are paying close attention to it because of the implications it will have on their ability to target and track consumers through their online behavior. The inability to easily track consumer search and purchase data has massive revenue implications for advertisers, but it also affects other businesses.

However, business owners are generally less likely to know how changes will impact their ability to advertise their products and reach new consumers. Recently, Google announced that it would delay the change until 2024, giving business owners and advertising executives a chance to catch up. Here's what you need to know about the impact of this move on your business and how you can prepare for it.

First, how did we get here?

Privacy concerns have prompted consumers and industry gatekeepers to question our online data tracking systems. Consumers are increasingly savvy about how their data is monetized, and stealth data mining is a major red flag for consumers. In fact, 80% of consumers say they will voluntarily abandon a brand if their data is used without their knowledge.

Meanwhile, the demand for personalization is on the rise and consumers expect companies to provide omnichannel solutions that make shopping easier and save time. Personalization and omnichannel experiences both require the use of data to perform well.

These two consumer sentiments collide in the current digital advertising paradigm, in which private data is often exploited for gains that go beyond consumer benefits. Recent moves by legislative bodies and tech giants have attempted to reconcile these interests, and the future of digital advertising hangs in the balance. To future-proof your business, take smart steps to prepare for the either of these decisions.

Partner with publishers who have thought about the future

It should be noted that abandoning third-party cookies will likely only increase the stronghold of advertising giants such as Meta and Google and weaken access to reliable data sources for other publishers who are an important part of the advertising ecosystem.

Fortunately, a number of vendors have become familiar with privacy-compliant identity solutions. Partnering with publishers who have access to this type of data in order to advertise programmatically will likely be an important solution for business owners in the future. Additionally, we can learn from publishers how they adapt to the termination of the third-party cookie.

Learn more about new identity solutions

Thanks to Google's imminent discontinuation of cookies, the digital identity industry is booming. The global market for this sector is expected to reach $49.5 billion by 2026. Why? New privacy-friendly identity solutions will lay the foundation for the future of digital advertising.

A few promising solutions include contextual targeting, which uses natural language processing to match content to consumers without the need for invasive privacy practices, and addressability, which aims to use less private data sources to identify and anonymize consumers. .

Own your data

Ultimately, advertisers who own their data will be in a better position to meet the challenge of a new digital advertising ecosystem. Now is the time to optimize your data capture, get your cu...