I Did It All For The Cookie.

We all know the immortal lyrics generated by the British band, The Police, with the lead singer from the 1984 movie adaptation of Dune: “Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, Google’s watching you..”

Whether it’s terms and conditions that are too long to read or checkboxes that need to be ticked to access that ‘fan fiction’ site, navigating the web has been riddled with various methods of following your behaviour and trends in order to make a return visit a smoother experience. Also, how innovative is it if the adverts you come across actually have some sort of relevance to you?

Aw, [search engine of choice], you’ve taken the time and effort to get to know me! No longer am I a random string of numbers searching for gratification! How did you know I was thinking about purchasing an Anakin Skywalker SEO meme lunchbox? What dark magic is this?

Surprisingly, we’ve grown to dislike this, (sometimes refreshingly inaccurate), ‘get-to-know-you’ experience of browsing the internet. Is privacy a bygone luxury of the early 90s? Does my mobile really listen to the philosophical debates I have with myself at home in front of the mirror? If I google ‘tin foil hats’ do I immediately go on a Lizard People watchlist? The array of fear or curiosity of our personal information and the digital fingerprints we leave behind creates a wide spectrum - but no matter where you sit, you’re probably aware of the term, ‘cookie’. Love ‘em, hate ‘em, tolerate ‘em - the internet cookie has been around for decades.

That’s about to change…

No More Cookie?

Google is in the process of phasing out third-party cookies on Chrome with the intention of a privacy-enlightened digital landscape for 2023. (Other engines like Safari or Firefox have had restrictions going on for an age). It’s been an idea that the Google Overloads have had in place since 2020. Chrome has been using third-person trackers on its search engine as a standard practice but has been looking at ways to replace the often unpopular system for something pleasing to both users and marketers - a balance that’s almost as fine as the Cookie Monster’s self-control.

How Cookies Work.

Cookies are text files that contain data to identify your computer within a network. HTTP cookies are those that are designed to identify you, the user, when visiting a website. They’re designed to make your experience less of a chore.

Think of the cookie system like that of a valet. You give your car keys, (data, personal information, pages you’ve been to), to the hotel valet, (website server), and in return get a valet ticket, (the cookie from the website stored on your web browser). When you go to pick up your car after blowing all your money at an intense ‘Deal Or No Deal’ casino session, (what you do with your life when not browsing that particular website), you have your car returned to you, (previous activity on the site), by handing over the ticket, (the browser giving the website the cookie).

This all sounds very convenient, but how can this system go bad? By how the third-party cookies can track your browsing history. Let’s say you enter a website with a great number of ads. Those ads, while not directly related to your session on the website itself, (where you could get a first-party cookie), may still leave their own cookies to allow advertisers to see where you’ve been and what you might be looking for. Zombie cookies are pesky variants that are installed on your electronic device and can reappear even after being deleted.

No wonder current websites are doubling down on informing you about the process. However, digital marketers rely on third-party cookies for their data. If cookies are destined to become a nostalgia kick in our old age, what’s happening to replace them?

What Does A Cookie-less Future Look Like?

Well, it’s only third-party cookies that are being given the boot - but marketers love ‘em! Where’s the alternative satisfying replacement for those hard-working folk?

Google was potentially getting ready to FLoC to the occasion. FLoC stands for ‘Federated Learning of Cohorts’. The idea was to split users of Chrome into groups or ‘cohorts’ based on their search habits. Advertisers would then be able to target these specific audiences rather than the individual user themselves. Scratching this, Google pivoted to the new idea of ‘Topics’. Advertisers get to know about users based on the short-list of categories they match within their short-term browsing history. Look at cookies often? You might get placed in the ‘baking goods category’ to continue your gateway into illicit sugary goodness.

For marketers, alternative tracking signals would need to be implemented. Those identifiers could become IP addresses or device IDs. Contextual advertising could also make a comeback. Imagine: an actually relevant advert for low-fat monster milk on a cookie baking site? Bonkers.

It’s all being debated, reevaluated, argued, and tossed about like the healthy salads we never get recommended on our pop-ups. What do you think? Are we working our way back to a secure and private online experience, or are marketers getting left with the crumbs?