Key Dates 2024: The year of the Cookiepocolypse.

What is the cookiepocalypse?

The cookiepocalypse is the upcoming demise of third-party cookies. Third-party cookies are small pieces of data that are stored on your computer by websites that you visit. They are used by advertisers to track your browsing habits and target you with ads.

Key Dates

• December 2023: Apple’s Safari blocks third-party cookies by default.
• Early 2024: Microsoft Edge blocks third-party cookies by default.
• Mid 2024: Google Chrome blocks third-party cookies.

What is the single largest impact to businesses?

You can’t target adverts like you used to nor can you track who saw, clicked or converted. It is the end of advertising as we once knew it to be. Without third-party cookies, advertisers will need to find new ways to track and target users i.e. identify and invest in retail media networks that use first party data.?

Homework: Google the difference between first party data and third party cookies.

Why are third-party cookies being phased out?

Fair question - it is all about protecting our privacy. Think GDPR on steroids.?

Third-party cookies are being phased out because they are a privacy concern. Advertisers can use third-party cookies to track your browsing habits across the web and build a detailed profile of your interests. This profile can then be used to target you with ads, even on websites that you have never visited before.

How can retail media advertisers prepare for the cookiepocalypse?

There are a number of things that retail media advertisers can do to prepare for the cookiepocalypse:

• Focus on first-party data: First-party data is data that is collected directly from consumers, such as through email addresses, loyalty programs, and website surveys. First-party data is more valuable than third-party data because it is more accurate and reliable. Retail media advertisers should focus on collecting and using first-party data to target and personalize their campaigns.
• Invest in contextual targeting: Contextual targeting is a way of targeting ads based on the content of the web page that the ad is displayed on. Contextual targeting is a more privacy-friendly way of targeting ads than third-party cookies. Retail media advertisers should invest in contextual targeting to reach their target audience without relying on third-party cookies.
• Use new targeting technologies: Google is developing a new technology called Topics to track users in Chrome without using cookies. Topics is still under development, but it has the potential to be a valuable tool for retail media advertisers. Retail media advertisers should stay up-to-date on the latest developments in targeting technologies and be prepared to adopt new technologies as they become available.

Is it too late to start gathering first party data?

Personally, I think if you are a retailer in a mature market, you've left it pretty late. The good news is that we’ll see a rise of plenty of connected retail media networks that combined, will give access to enough first party data to cover a whole population.?

I predict a grocery retailer to be at the centre of each - this might be why my career if focused in grocery retail media ;)

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