Third-party cookie alternatives: What strategies are emerging?

The end of third-party cookies is coming – what now?

The bells for third-party cookies may no longer be tolling as loudly, but the technology is still on the wane. All the while, alternative solutions keep on evolving, opening up new options. Rasmus Giese, CEO of United Internet Media, explores the future of targeting in digital advertising.

Investment in new targeting solutions is essential

Google’s announcement that it wouldn’t be turning off third-party cookies by default for now has certainly given the digital industry more time to work with the highly effective cookie-based retargeting method. However, the digital advertising industry can’t afford to just lie back, because everything is pointing to third-party cookies continuing to lose their relevance.

Already, a significant proportion of users can no longer be addressed via third-party cookies. For example, the cookies are now blocked in the Safari and Firefox browsers. As for Chrome, it will depend on how Google asks users to opt in to ads. At the same time, mobile traffic is increasing in the apps – and that works without third-party cookies. In addition, cross-device use is making the use of third-party cookies more difficult because the cookies are device-specific.

With all that in mind, switching to first-party data and alternative ID solutions continues to be the right approach from a long-term perspective. Only then will the industry become less dependent on the gatekeepers, browser providers, and mobile operating systems. The uncertainty surrounding the future of third-party cookies highlights how important it is to invest in independent and predictable targeting solutions.

Score points with first-party data

First-party data has the advantage that it won’t be blocked. However, only very few companies have a large volume of their own first-party data. Even fewer have up-to-date first-party data because not all services are used frequently – search engines, video platforms, social media platforms, email services, etc. have an advantage because they are the most in-demand activities on the Internet. First-party services with login-based applications are even more valuable because the data collected there is more persistent and lasts longer.

Across-the-board solutions needed

To boost the efficiency of digital campaigns, across-the-board solutions are also required. Key components include the pretarget standard deals developed by the BVDW ’s Circle of Online Marketers (OVK), which are based on first-party data. Cookies aren’t needed for contextual targeting, which is also being steered by OVK standards. However, for across-the board personalized targeting, the industry requires identifiers as bridging technologies. If fewer third-party cookies are available for that though, alternatives such as netID and Utiq come into play. Case studies have proved their practical suitability for some time now and have demonstrated that the alternatives work across marketers. An important bonus: in contrast to third-party cookies, the targeting is ID-based and thus also works across multiple devices – including frequency capping.

A bright outlook despite cookies losing their relevance

The industry can be optimistic about the future of targeting. Thanks to data clean rooms and standardization, cookie alternatives are constantly being refined. netID and Utiq are working together to offer better solutions. In the UIM lecture “The delayed end of third-party cookies: extra time and an opportunity for the advertising industry” at 11 am on September 19 on the Media Stage at DMEXCO 2024 (session will be held in German), Uli Hegge from the European netID Foundation and Norman Wagner from Utiq will be explaining what the partnership will look like.

So, while third-party cookies continue to lose their relevance, the alternatives are offering increasingly better solutions that generate more reach. It’s therefore high time to implement the new options and across-the-board strategies and reap the benefits.