Update 24 April 2024: the end of third-party cookies is, according to new information, being pushed to the beginning of 2025. So we will have to wait a while for the changes.
At the moment there is a lot of talk about Consent Mode v2, a stricter form of the consent policy that came into force at the beginning of 2022. Version 2 is already past its deadline (6 March 2024), but many websites and e-shops are still struggling with it, or have not even started dealing with it.
As if that were not enough, another challenge lies ahead: the end of third-party cookies, which, put simply, can mean the end of the ad targeting we have been used to in recent years.
How do you adapt to these challenges? We will answer that in the following article!
Consent Mode v2: When Consent Plays a Key Role
Consent Mode v2 is an advanced tool developed by Google that allows websites to manage user consent regarding the use of their data for personalised advertising. This update upgrades the original Consent Mode, giving users better control over how data is used for advertising purposes.
Consent Mode v2 allows websites to maintain greater transparency and trust towards users by giving them clearer information about how their data is used. All of this is in line with regulations such as the GDPR. At the same time, however, this approach can affect the performance of advertising systems, because less data can mean less targeted advertising and therefore a lower return on investment.
We wrote more about Consent Mode v2 here.
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The End of Third-Party Cookies: A Change We Are Preparing For
The autumn of 2024 is meant to bring the end of the era of third-party cookies, which is a fundamental change for digital marketing campaigns. These cookies were the traditional cornerstone of ad personalisation and of tracking user behaviour across the web. Their departure means we have to look for new approaches to targeting and to measuring advertising effectiveness.
Impact on Advertising Systems
The end of third-party cookies has a major impact on e-shops that use advertising systems to promote their products and services. The change will affect how e-shops communicate with their potential customers and how effectively they can target and measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.
The impact affects not only Google Ads, but also other advertising systems such as Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads and so on…
Loss of ad personalisation:
Third-party cookies were a key element of ad personalisation, which was based on tracking user behaviour across the internet. E-shops used this data to target relevant ads based on the user's behaviour on other websites. With the disappearance of these cookies, e-shops will have to find new ways to understand their customers better and reach them effectively.
The need to rely on first-party cookies:
E-shops will be forced to focus more on collecting data from users' browsers, that is, data obtained directly from users on their own websites. This includes, for example, information from registrations, purchase histories and interactions on the pages. This data is more reliable and more transparent than third-party data, but it requires users' active involvement and their consent to its collection and use.
A change in the approach to ad targeting:
Without third-party cookies, e-shops will have to rethink their ad targeting strategies. Instead of relying on users' browsing history across different websites, they can focus on contextual targeting, which uses the content of pages to determine relevant ads. This means ads will be targeted on the basis of the topic or content of the page on which they are displayed, which can be less personal but can be just as effective if done correctly.
New Methods of Measuring Advertising Effectiveness
The end of third-party cookies is a challenge for e-shops and advertising systems, but it also brings an opportunity for innovation and improvements in user privacy protection and more effective ad targeting. E-shops that are able to adapt to these changes and use new strategies and technologies will have a competitive advantage in the digital environment.
Reducing the Impact: Ways to Maintain the Effectiveness of Advertising Systems
For advertising systems to work successfully in the new environment, they must focus on several key measures:
1. Investing in contextual advertising:
Contextual advertising is becoming a more important alternative to personalised advertising based on tracking user behaviour. Analysing the content of pages and targeting ads based on the topic of the page can deliver comparable results.
2. First-party data collection
Collecting first-party data, that is, data directly from users on websites or in apps, offers a more trustworthy source of information for ad personalisation. Supporting user registrations and obtaining consent can help build a robust first-party database.
3. Alternative measurement of advertising effectiveness:
With the departure of third-party cookies, new methods of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns will have to be found. Models based on aggregated data or advanced analytical measurement techniques can provide alternatives to existing practices.
4. Innovation and testing:
In the digital environment it is crucial to keep innovating and testing new approaches. Flexibility and a willingness to adapt to change will be key success factors in the new advertising ecosystem.
In conclusion, Consent Mode v2 and the end of third-party cookies are challenges that require a response and adaptation from advertising systems. With the right approach and investment in innovation, however, advertising systems can continue to achieve successful results in the new digital environment.
This "race" will be won by those who find a unique way to get their users to register and then log in on their website. This gives them their own data for displaying ads based on information that the user provides themselves.
Other options are in play, such as the "privacy sandbox", which should be able to run ad targeting algorithms similar to those that now run on the servers of, say, Google. The difference is that this process will run directly in the user's browser, that is, it will be first-party data. This information has not been confirmed yet.
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