Third-Party Cookies Receive a Stay of Execution

While the death of the third-party cookie may not seem like an urgent issue to many, to digital marketers it has been an ongoing cause of concern. Luckily, Google has granted us a reprieve and third-party cookies will now be around a bit longer – until 2023 in fact! What does this mean? It simply gives digital marketers more time to plan and ensure that the loss of third-party cookies doesn’t have a major negative impact on campaigns.    

You may be asking “what is a cookie and why do they matter”? A cookie is a small amount of code placed on visitors’ browsers allowing advertisers to continue to market to them after they have left your site. Third-party cookies, such as those from Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, allow you to remarket to users that have visited your website directly on those platforms. This is a boon to marketers, as it allows for personalized messaging based upon visitor behavior on your website, leading to higher conversion rates.  

That being said, all is not lost. First party cookies, those placed on visitors to your own website, will still be allowed. Along with that, Google, and others, are actively working on developing alternatives for cookies. In the meantime, stage one of the cookie-less future will begin in late 2022 with a projected timeline of nine months. Stage two, the phasing out of third-party cookies, will begin in mid-2023 and is projected to be complete by late that same year. Knowing Google, that could easily change (and without warning!), but for now we’ll take the extra time.  

Learn more about Google’s plan here