How the Cookie Impeded Digital Advertising—Plus Considerations for Replacements
Google Chrome’s third-party cookie deprecation is finally in effect. And so, too, is the fallout from it. But while marketers have had to strategize about solutions for this pending signal loss, it’s worth noting—according to Manny Balbin of Switchboard Software—that the cookie may have been impeding industry innovation in the first place. In an article for AdExchanger, Balbin looks at where the technology may have gone wrong, plus alternatives to consider as cookie use dissipates.
“As we reflect on how third-party cookies held the industry back, the point isn’t to spit on the cookie’s partially dug grave–but to instead examine where the cookie’s varied replacements can help us right past missteps,” he writes. In his view, third-party cookies convinced advertisers that context didn’t matter, empowered shady data vendors and over-reliance on questionable data, and resulted in misleading measurement.
Balbin suggests that marketers should consider these alternatives as the industry moves beyond the cookie: identity solutions; publisher first-party data segmenting; advertising data enrichment; retail media; and AI-powered targeting algorithms. Read the full article in AdExchanger here.
