What Google’s Cookie (Non)Deprecation Decision Means for Your Business
It’s the start of a new month. We hope you’re feeling like #PommelHorseGuy after hitting your quota:
Today, we’re covering what Google’s decision on halting cookie deprecation means for your marketing team, new Scoops, and noteworthy news from around the web.
Google finally made a decision on cookie deprecation. Here's what it means for your business.
After four long years, Google reversed its decision to deprecate third-party cookies in Google Chrome.
Third-party cookies are bits of data stored in a user’s browser that inform advertisers about the user’s browsing activity. Third-party cookies come from a website other than the one you’re visiting, and help advertisers with ad personalization and targeting. There’s been frequent discourse on the consumer privacy implications of such cookies. Other browsers like Safari and Firefox deprecated third-party cookies years ago.
After announcing its plan for cookie deprecation in 2020, Google had been dragging its feet while working on an alternative solution as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative. However, regulators and investors have voiced their concerns about both Google’s implemented and planned alternatives.
That’s why, to many marketers, this decision comes as no surprise. In fact, Forrester’s 2024 Marketing Survey showed that 61% of B2C marketers were skeptical that Google would go through with its decision.
Google’s reversal came the same week that Apple began running ominous ads with the tagline “Your browsing is being watched,” where flying security cameras follow people using their phone’s web browsers. While they didn’t explicitly call out Google Chrome, the visuals make it apparent that’s what Apple is referring to. But while Safari — Apple’s web browser — deprecated third-party cookies, recent legislation in the EU promoting fair and open digital markets has made it so Apple can’t completely stop third parties from collecting consumer data.
The effectiveness of third-party cookie tracking has been declining for some time. Marketers and data providers have found new, better ways to understand consumer behavior and create targeted advertising in response.
ZoomInfo, for example, prepared for third-party cookie deprecation in 2020 by introducing Privacy Clusters, a behavioral tracking alternative that prioritizes user privacy while still enabling targeted advertising.
“Cookies are just one data point in our identity graph and we use a variety of data points in our identity graph to map devices to companies or people,” said Brett Elliot, principal product manager at ZoomInfo. “The power is in diversification.”
Still, it’s not just Cookie Monster who should be happy about this decision.
“The good news for the advertising ecosystem is that Chrome will allow advertisers on the open web to continue doing business as usual,” said Elliot.
While marketers can breathe a sigh of relief that there aren’t immediate changes coming to Chrome, brands should continue to search for cookie alternatives and work with data partners that focus on first-party data.
“It’s important to remember that this entire space is very volatile and things happen very quickly,” said Aadhitthyaa Hari Gopal, product manager at ZoomInfo. “So even though Google said that it’s not deprecating cookies today, that should not deter us from continuing to invest in non-cookie-based identifiers.”
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What’s the Scoop?
These Scoops are found on our platform and sourced through customer surveys and the ZoomInfo research team.
With ZoomInfo Copilot, these types of Scoops (and more!) are surfaced in real time, showing when best-fit customers are looking for products just like yours. Learn more about ZoomInfo Copilot.
The Watercooler
Here’s some news that caught our attention from around the web:
For the first time since 2020, sales fell at McDonald’s global stores that have been open for at least one year. The company says the drop is due to budget-conscious consumers opting out of dining out as inflation causes food prices to increase. It launched a $5 meal deal at many U.S. restaurants to try to quell the financial hit that’s expected to continue through August. CEO Chris Kempczinski said reengaging the “I’m loving it” spirit will take broader effort, like better marketing and a clearer value over competitors.
Meta agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over residents’ biometric data permission violations. This is the largest settlement amount secured by a single state according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who plans to continue to press a similar lawsuit against Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Spirit Airlines is upgrading their no-frills fares. Next month, the airline said it’s adding “premium” perks, like wi-fi, free checked bags, and snacks to its highest-priced tickets. The move comes in hopes of increasing revenue after a turbulent few months, including the failed JetBlue acquisition and engine recalls.
The owner of social media platform X shared a video on his own account of Vice President Kamala Harris that replaced her voice-over with an AI-generated impersonation. Elon Musk’s original post contained no note that it was manipulated. Users questioned if this violates X’s own policies on sharing synthetic and manipulated media.
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