Google Extends Third-Party Cookie Lifespan to 2025

April has been a month of highly anticipated news. Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, the annual influx of celebrity Coachella outfits flooded our Instagram’s and Google now announced that the depreciation of third-party cookies will be delayed yet again, pushing the timeline back to 2025 (as we expected).

So what does Google Extending Third-Party Cookie Lifespan to 2025 mean for advertisers and should we still be gearing up in preparation?

Why Google’s Delaying Rollout Of Third-Party Cookie

According to Google, the main reason is due to a high level of scrutiny and concern from major regulators (the largest being UK’s antitrust regulator – the Competition and Markets Authority – CMA). Regulators have raised concerns around Google’s depreciation of the third-party cookie, and how this transition could unfairly impact competition. Regulators are calling on Google to communicate clearer and more robust solutions in response to the removal of third-party cookies. As a result, Google announced last week that it will delay the rollout, in order to address concerns.

Three Things We should Do In Response:

1. Continue to Prepare: Advertisers who view this postponement as a halt in the depreciation of cookies, risk falling behind and being unprepared when Google inevitably deactivates the use of third-party cookies. Brands should use this extended timeframe as a golden opportunity to conduct thorough audits of their data practices and ensure data privacy policies are up to scratch. Brands should also be reviewing and assessing the effectiveness of current targeting methods and commence testing and learning across alternative media channels such as contextual targeting and traditional media (radio, OOH etc) to be prepared.
2. Connect through content: You may be familiar with the term “zero-party” data, which, at its core , refers to the data users willingly share with companies. One of the most popular and engaging forms of zero party data is email subscriptions to online magazines and publications. We predict more and more brands will partner with publications, creating native content, solus eDMs and ROS display to tap into leaned-in audiences across publishers. We also anticipate content publishers to become a new hub for data and audience insights, being able to provide valuable insights into brands’ key target audiences.
3. Integrate with major platforms: With third-party cookies being depreciated, we will be relying more heavily on our own 1st party data to target and report on advertising initiatives. We recommend leveraging this time to ensure existing media campaigns are integrated with platforms that offer first-party data solutions. To name a few key solutions; Facebook CAPI, Google’s Enhanced Conversions and TikTok’s Events API are all solutions that allow advertisers to tap into their own 1st party data to deliver and optimise ad campaigns effectively. It will be imperative that brands work with tech experts such as media agencies to help them better prepare and ensure campaigns and platforms are integrated effectively.

Future Of Third-Party Cookie:

So, whilst advertisers and brands alike are safe from the removal of 3rd party cookies in 2024, successful brands will be the ones who use this time effectively – ensuring data privacy policies, tech integrations and media mix are set up to focus on zero and 1st party data ahead of the inevitable depreciation of third-party cookies.

Reach out to our ADMATICians today to see how we can help your business prepare and to better understand the impact this rollout will have on your own brand and advertising measurement.