With 65% share of the browser market, when Google Chrome removes third-party cookies it will trigger a fundamental shift in how we can identify users.
We can expect the amount of accessible data, and therefore the number of profiles we can target, to be drastically reduced. Just as we saw with GDPR in 2018. At the time of this report – many of our clients are seeing a drop off in cookie acceptance of as much as 50% – so this is something that cannot be ignored.
Already, newer “currencies” to identify users are beginning to appear. Many of these are focused on using anonymised versions of users’ email addresses to identify, target and activate marketing activity. For many brands, it will become increasingly important to capture their own user information (with appropriate consent) for use in this way.
After this watershed moment, the data that does remain and has the proper consent for use will be significantly more valuable. Most importantly for marketers, it will enable much more relevant messaging for those users, which should lead to higher conversion rates.
Undoubtedly, marketers will pay a higher CPM to extract first-party data, due to its granularity and the personal value it holds. However, this won’t be the only strategy that marketers can rely on.
