Blog and News > canddi > That's the way the Cookie Crumbles: the Downfall of 3rd Party Data
That's the way the Cookie Crumbles: the Downfall of 3rd Party Data
In a recent article on axios.com, the New York Times has reported that as of next year, it will no longer be using 3rd party cookies (data) to target ads.
It will join other big names like Google, Apple and Firefox in the movement of phasing out 3rd party cookies to focus on the use of proprietary data instead. But what does all of this actually mean? Let’s take a look.
What is a cookie?
No, I’m not talking about the chocolate kind. HTTP cookies are small amounts of text lodged into a website browser as a way of collecting and remembering information about visitors and their browsing history.
If you’re already using tracking software on your website, you’ll know the valuable insight the use of cookies can provide, but it’s important to know where this data really came from. Cookies can work in two ways. They either store 3rd party data, or 1st party data.
Well, what’s the difference?
3rd party data has long been at the centre of controversy for its ability to collect information on visitors from a domain other than the one currently being viewed. This has raised numerous questions about privacy policy and compliance with GDPR for companies, with many pulling the plug on 3rd party cookies completely.
However, 1st party cookies are stored by the website directly. They’re considered more user-friendly as they only allow website owners to view analytics and remember certain data for an enhanced user experience.
The future of cookies
Technology has come a long way since cookies were born nearly 25 years ago. Consumers have become way more savvy with the information they put into the digital world, cluing up on how, why and where it gets processed.
It was only a matter of time before a privacy policy overhaul was called upon, which seems to be the final straw for 3rd party cookies.
This can be pretty scary for some companies, as their digital marketing and tracking tools have relied on 3rd party data for the last quarter of a century! Without them, they just won’t work. Companies will now need to gather their own first-party data sets from people-based and contextual marketing techniques. But this is going to take some time…
The good news is that here at CANDDi, we’ve only ever used first-party cookies. We won’t need to switch up our software as we’ve always believed there’s no need to unnecessarily trace people’s clicks and swipes all over the internet. Instead, we focus on gathering real, insightful data on the visitors of one website only, yours!
This can be really helpful if you’re looking to remember visitor session activity, profile website visitors, map visitors across multiple platforms and refine your sales & marketing targets, all without an intrusive violation of your viewers privacy! Win win.
If you’re looking to change the way you collect your analytical data, why not try CANDDi for free today?
