This is excerpted from here: https://streetfightmag.com/2020/09/01/blocking-third-party-cookies-will-not-mean-the-end-of-marketing-attribution/?mc_cid=18a808552f&mc_eid=3bd528669b&doing_wp_cron=1598977005.5142900943756103515625#.X05z8MhKiUl
Google Chrome will follow Apple Safari and Firefox with the eventual blocking of third-party cookies within the Google Chrome browser. Safari and Firefox have already made the move, but Google, in its desire to take a more measured approach, has determined it will phase out third-party cookies over a two-year period.
For context, Apple released Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) in 2017 to protect user privacy by limiting the ability of marketers and online businesses to track users across domains via its Safari browser. ITP 2.1 raises the bar even higher, capping the lifetime of cookies set client-side to seven days, instead of the possible two years.
First-party vs third-party Cookies:
It should be noted that the move away from third-party cookies by the three major web browsers does not mean an end to cookies. First-party cookies, those cookies that are placed on a person’s browser when they visit a website owned by a primary company or organization, will still be in place. Companies will be able to track visitor behavior (conversions) in terms of where they entered the site, how long they stayed, pages visited, and where they exited.
What’s being phased out are third-party cookies, those cookies that are used by advertisers to track visitor moves as they navigate to multiple sites. The third-party cookies enable advertising platforms, and the companies that use them, to build a comprehensive visitor profile – all based on their online activity.
Marketing attribution in a post-third-party-cookie world:
The demise of third-party cookies will not mean the end of digital advertising and the ability to assign proper attribution to individuals engaging in various touchpoints along the buyer journey. Several entities are currently hashing out other methodologies brands can leverage to retrieve audience analytics.
There are three requirements to be ITP-compliant:
- Cookies must be first-party (they cannot come from a third-party domain, such as an attribution firm) and should not be placed by the browser.
- Destination URLs cannot contain any tracking parameters or fragment tags (no utm codes!).
- The site hosting the advertisement, and thereby referring customer traffic to a company site, can’t collect data for cross-domain tracking.
Another option that is being currently discussed as a way to gather audience data is the use of a unified ID solution, which would mean a universal ID (click for more info) that’s shared across demand-side platforms (DSP), supply-side platforms (SSP), and data management platforms (DMP).
In addition to alternative ways of assigning online attribution, offline attribution (i.e. On-site Visit Tracking) could also gain in prominence as a result of reduced third-party cookie use. Linking ad exposures to specific outcomes and having it done accurately could play a significant role in the future of marketing attribution.
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