A Cookieless Future
by Angie Ash, EVP
I have to be honest. When Google announced that it wasn’t going to replace cookies in Chrome with any new proposed personal identifiers, I was neither surprised nor upset. If you’re reading this and not entirely sure what cookies are, you should be soon. That’s because when you visit a website, any tracking devices the brand offers have to be opted into by you. When you accept to enable cookies, you’re telling that brand they can send you digital banners, Facebook feed ads, and a bevy of other ads to get you to come back to shop and engage. It’s essentially the same thing as retargeting.
The reasons I’m neither surprised nor upset are numerous:
- Digital fraud is rampant and cookies contribute to this by reaching fake identities making fake clicks on fake websites
- Third-party data isn’t of great quality.
- Cookie-driven ads are really annoying. Ever get followed by a product ad you were just curious about but didn’t necessarily want to buy? They’re like the most irritating fly at the picnic, landing on your food constantly. Even worse is the ad you keep seeing after you already bought the product.
- A little privacy would be nice, right? Enabling cookies is like turning on your lights at night and not drawing the shades. The whole world can seemingly see what you’re up to.
That being said, many agencies aren’t too worried about cookies going away, citing they feel it doesn’t work as well as Facebook and Instagram advertising anyway. And, as long as you have your own database of customers, the “everything old is new again” approach to clienteling through phone calls, texting, and direct mail will never steer you wrong.
Now, a future without chocolate chip cookies? That would be truly devastating!
Need to brush up on digital strategy? Contact suits@fruchtman.com to start the conversation.
