In light of this (from the linkblog):

Google Analytics is improving privacy features in anticipation of third-party cookie deprecation next year.

  • Protected Audiences (formerly FLEDGE & who knows how many other acronyms)
  • Enhanced conversions
  • Consent Mode (not new, but more important)

The cookie is about to actually crumble

Let's revisit this old Kyle's Corner from a Blue Ion newsletter:

Cookie Monster

Is the modern era of internet advertising coming to an end? There are plenty of think pieces that will try to convince you of that. iOS 14.5 dismantled tracking users across services, and when Google phases out third-party cookies in Chrome in the not-too-distant-future, it’ll join most other major browsers to have done so.

Let’s recap, shall we?

  • In iOS, users must now opt-in to allow apps to track them and Facebook advertising is taking a hit
  • Android will go halfway later this month with the safety section of the Google Play store (more transparency, less opt-in/out)
  • Soon, most major browsers will have similar measures in place
  • iOS 15 introduced email tracking opt-out, which means no IP data for location and incorrect open rates (think 100%) 

What comes next? [Insert shrug emoji here.] If Google has its way, maybe we’ll FLEDGE and Topics. Perhaps Apple launches an ad platform and we start paying a different tech giant. Or contextual advertising comes back in a big way (the seller side looks to be pushing this angle). A common feature of many prominent alternatives is to collect and maintain user data on a user’s device or in their browser and share an anonymized signal with ad platforms that acts like a yes/no button for whether or not the user is in the targeted audience.

In the meantime, the safe approach looks to be leveraging data you own (CRM (We can help) or email list) or the platforms own (interests and engagement actions happening within their walled gardens). 

At this point, there is more uncertainty than clarity. But the safest bet is the same as it’s always been: own the customer relationship and build your own database (it does not have to be a literal database).

Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

And now you don’t even have to take my word for it, you can take McKinsey’s! The 3 consultant-certified recommendations?

  1. Collect first-party data (the stuff users voluntarily share with you)
  2. Create partnerships to leverage second-party data (your partner’s first-party data)
  3. Run contextual ads (the ads match the content of the page the user is on; or, the way internet advertising used to run.

Protected Audiences

Say what now?

The Protected Audience API proposes new privacy-preserving ways to power remarketing and custom audience solutions so advertisers can re-engage with site visitors.
With the Protected Audience API, a user’s browser stores advertiser-defined interest groups that it is associated with and hosts on-device auctions to show ads. Similar to how interest groups work today, the Protected Audience API will help marketers do things like showcase different product categories, appeal to visitors who didn’t convert, and re-engage visitors who abandoned shopping carts. Unlike today, however, user information won’t be collected and shared to many companies by third-party cookies.

I think it's basically social media style interest targeting for the broader web.

Visit Carmax.com, get placed in the automotive interest group, get delivered car-related ads.

The interesting piece is the browser-side handling. Browsers could be way more robust and interesting than they are now. They're basically the OS for the internet and (probably) the most used tool on many people's computers.

I expect more and more things to be handled via browser-side or on-device mechanisms moving forward.

Stay curious.