The end of third-party cookies postponed yet again: 2 actions to take now

While Google has announced a further delay before it puts an end to third-party cookies, Apple's announcement on the arrival of IOS17 is no less alarming. Apple is taking the lead in further protecting private data by blocking all tracking tags on Safari in private browsing.

Since January 2020, Google has been aiming to stop supporting third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in order to improve privacy conditions for its users. However, this is the second time that the giant has decided to extend the deadline, to July 2024. After the RGPD came into force in May 2018, this is a new problem, particularly for e-commerce sites whose market in 2022 climbed by 13.8% between 2021 and 2022. The postponement of the deadline is explained by the lack of existing alternatives for companies to collect data and target their advertising. Google has already announced that 1% of Chrome users will no longer use third-party cookies from January 2024. Although the company wants a gradual transition, we recommend that you react to these changes today.

Here are 2 things you can do right now to respond to these changes:

• Integrate Server-Side Tracking into your website to collect user data directly by first passing it through a web server, without using client-side cookies.

This method offers two significant advantages:

1. It allows you to reduce the number of tags on your site, thereby improving its performance.
2. It also helps to collect better quality data by avoiding adblock software.

What's more, this data is stored directly by your servers, giving you better control over your users. However, setting up a server-side data collection system has an installation and running cost that needs to be taken into account. Use Google Tag manager Server to get an initial idea and exploit server-side data.

• Use fingerprinting to track users of your site. This method creates a unique identifier based on the specifics of their device, enabling you to track their browsing and collect the data you have configured. Make sure you comply with RGPD standards by collecting only the necessary and authorised data, obtaining user consent and storing the data securely to protect their confidentiality.

Various solutions are being put in place to compensate for the disappearance of third-party cookies. However, these solutions have yet to prove themselves. This is the case with the Privacy Sandbox proposed by Google, which promises us certain alternatives that have not yet seen the light of day. We therefore recommend that you keep a close eye on it.

These three approaches can also be complemented by a more expensive but nonetheless effective solution: a Customer Data Platform. Centralising all customer data on a single platform could undoubtedly make tracking easier and save a great deal of time. However, the 2 actions mentioned above are necessary if you don't want to be surprised by the end of cookies in 2024!