In July, Google announced they were halting the depreciation of cookies—well, that was a u-turn, met with frustration, a sign of relief, but most brands have chosen to continue on their path to a cookieless future. Our recent poll found that 86% of brands continue to focus on growing their first-party data strategies, with the view that the future is cookieless.

So what exactly was the announcement, and what does it mean?

Anthony Charez, VP of Google’s Privacy Sandbox, said in an update that Google:

• Plans to keep third-party cookies running in the Chrome browser
• Let users make an ‘informed choice’ to manage their privacy preferences that users can change at any point
• These ‘informed choices’ will take place through a “one-time prompt” for users so they can make their choice.

Google’s new proposal is currently being discussed with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Because of this, a further global announcement on the decision is due to be shared at a later date.

What does it mean?

A one-time prompt is similar to an Apple prompt to ask an app not to track (as of last year, the opt-in rate on Apple was 25%). However, this is likely at a browser level, meaning a consumer is essentially prompted once whether they want any advertiser to track them. Therefore, as a brand, you cannot influence or educate a consumer to opt in. This effect will likely be the same as the Cookie being depreciated, with a fast drop-off in user consent on Chrome.

Since other browsers, like Apple’s Safari and Firefox, block third-party cookies by default, the open web will mostly be cookieless. This means that first-party data is still crucial for maintaining signals across digital marketing despite Google’s U-turn.

What do we recommend?

1. Invest in First-Party Data: Focus on collecting and leveraging first-party data from your digital properties. This data is increasingly valuable for targeting and personalisation, as it remains unaffected by third-party cookie restrictions. Remember, 97% of the people visiting your site are not ready to purchase, but that doesn’t mean they are not ready to engage.
2. Invest in enriching your current first-party data: Get to know your current consumers, find out their core demographics, what drives their purchase intent, and where they spend their time online. Use this to better target your next best customer and increase personalisation.
3. Adopt Privacy-Focused Identity Solutions: Experiment with emerging identity solutions like Unified ID 2.0 or Google’s Privacy Sandbox to ensure you can still reach and track users in a privacy-compliant way.
4. Strengthen Direct Relationships: Build stronger direct relationships with customers through loyalty programs, subscriptions, and engaging content to increase the volume and quality of first-party data. Consumers are willing to share their data, they just need to understand what the value exchange is.
5. Refine Attribution Models: Adjust your attribution strategies for less granular data. Emphasise multi-touch and incrementality measurement approaches that don’t rely solely on cookies. Remember at esbconnect, our attribution tool uses the email address for attribution and doesn’t rely on consent on CMP or cookies.
6. Collaborate with Partners: Partner with data providers and platforms that offer privacy-compliant data solutions. Collaborations can help you maintain the effectiveness of your targeting and retargeting strategies. Speak to our team about leveraging our 17 million consumers in any channel via our partnership with Eyeota and Meta.

By focusing on these areas, you can safeguard their future against the eventual deprecation of third-party cookies while continuing to deliver effective and measurable campaigns.

Our top six tips for growing your first-party data:

a) Don’t offer a voucher code as an incentive to sign up to your newsletter—you will get people ready to convert. Remember, this is about growing reach and turning brand awareness/engagement into actionable conversations. Use incentives that maximise conversion rates from site visitors to sign up—not sales.

b) Use gamification to gain more insight into their interests and demographics. For example, take our quiz to find out your style profile or the perfect colours for your skin type.

c) Go beyond your website to collect first-party data – leverage partners and other sites to drive people to sign up. Remember, you are limited by your ability to drive people to your site, so you must use multiple partners to amplify that reach. At esbconnect, when you use are first-party data growth product, we amplify your newsletter sign-up to 17m consumers and via partnerships with the likes of The Stylist, SheerLuxe and Country and Townhouse.

d) Don’t ask for war and peace at the beginning – collect the minimum amount of data at the beginning to maximise conversion rate and consider smart UX or nurture journeys to collect further data, e.g. a second page with an added incentive for providing further information, asking for DOB so you can send them a birthday treat or using surveys and games within your email program to enrich the data further. Or, for a shortcut, chat to esbconnect about our append and enrichment product.

e) Remember, someone signing up for your newsletter is not the same as a customer who has purchased. Invest in an engaging welcome journey and show them the value you will give them in return for their loyalty and speed up the time for signing up for the first purchase and then the second and third!

f) Loyalty programs are done well and are your best friends.

The news may have felt frustrating but the reality is the situation is same as June, so smile and carry on!