Digital Advertising without
third-party cookies An R3 White Paper
DRIVING TRANSFORMATION FOR MARKETERS & THEIR AGENCIES
THE DECLINE OF THE THIRD-PARTY COOKIE
1
september 2017
may 2018
2
Apple releases Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) allowing a 24-hour window on how long a user could be tracked for.
GDPR law enforces data protection and privacy in the EU. Mozilla Firefox announces plans to start blocking tracking by default.
3
august 2018
4
ITP 2.2 finally closes the loophole that allowed third-parties to measure traffic.
5
november 2018 Apple releases ITP 2.0, which removes the 24-hour grace window and cookie syncing abilities.
february 2019 ITP 2.1 is introduced, capping the lifespan of first-party cookies to seven days.
6
Google announces measures to make blocking third-party cookies much easier for users.
april 2019
7 9
january 2022 Google removes the third-party cookie.
4
may 2019
january 2020
8
Google announces that it plans to kill off third-party cookies in their web browser, Google Chrome, within two years. Google’s Chrome browser has 65% of global browser market share and a large stake in the advertising ecosystem. So, although Safari and Firefox already took much harsher steps in completely eliminating third-party cookies on their browsers, Google heading in that direction is a big step.
DRIVING TRANSFORMATION FOR MARKETERS & THEIR AGENCIES
IS THIS THE RIGHT MOVE? The digital advertising ecosystem is evolving to reflect users’ expectations on how their personal data is used and collected. Users prefer relevant ads, however, only if they are provided transparency and control. Tech scandals and data breaches have made regulators and consumers more conscious of protecting data privacy on the web. GDPR and its emphasis on informed and active consent for the collection of consumer data and tracking of consumer behavior have changed the privacy landscape. Companies scrambled to meet deadlines for compliance, with the average Fortune 500 firm spending $16 million on resources such as data compliance officers, legal teams and software. The more important question the digital advertising industry needs to be asking is “what’s next?” Will Google make a market-dominating move and replace third-party cookie-based tracking in a way that further strengthens the walled garden?
To what extent do you agree with the statements below? I worry about how my personal data is being used by companies. (data point added in Q3 2014)
56%
2013
64% 57%
2014
Source: GlobalWebIndex
6
62% 57%
2015
I am concerned about the internet eroding my personal privacy.
62% 59%
63% 60%
2016
2017
63% 62%
2018
64% 61%
2019