In January 2020, Google announced its plans ‘to phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome… within two years’, in order to increase web privacy and security for users. Third-party cookies will therefore be blocked by all major browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari) by 2022. This disrupts the current landscape for digital advertising, as third-party cookie data is used extensively for personalisation. In response, businesses need to adapt and change their personalisation solutions.

The announcement has stimulated a sense of panic amongst some businesses, but Google’s decision is in fact best for customers and brands. Read more to find out why we think this is:

• Even though cookies will be blocked, personalisation will still be possible with other currently available solutions (such as first-party data, location- and time-based messaging, and contextual targeting) across all the main digital channels (display, video, social, search).
• Audience data will be available as first-party (advertiser-owned) and second-party (tech or publisher-owned) cookie data, and will also likely be supplemented by clean, fully GDPR-compliant, and transparent non-cookie-based third-party data.
• Investment in audience data technologies (such as DMPs and CDPs) will not be wasted as there will still be multiple sources of audience data (even if first-party) that benefit from consolidation.
• Advertisers are expected to benefit from greater customer confidence over time in consuming online content and purchasing online safely.