On 22 July 2024, Google announced that Chrome will not block third-party cookies. A third-party cookie is a small file placed on your device by a party other than the website you are visiting. Advertising networks use them to follow people across multiple websites. For years, the plan was to phase them out in Chrome. That plan has now been scrapped.
Many marketers have understandably breathed a sigh of relief, but that is no reason to leave your approach as it was. The direction of the market is not changing. Privacy is becoming more important, and measurement based on third-party cookies remains unreliable. In this article, you will learn what Google has actually said and what the best course of action is now.
What Google has announced
Google says Chrome will not phase out third-party cookies. Instead, a new experience will be introduced in the browser. It will allow people to make an informed choice about their privacy. That choice applies to all of their browsing, and they can change it later.
Google will also continue to work on the Privacy Sandbox. This is a set of new technologies that make advertising possible without tracking individual visitors across the whole internet. Google is consulting with regulators as part of this work.
What this choice will look like exactly is not yet known. It is therefore too early to say how many people will allow third-party cookies and how many will not.
Less data, even with cookies
Even with cookies, you have not had a complete picture of your visitors for a long time. Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies by default. Safari also limits how long certain cookies are kept. As a result, an online shop is less able to recognise returning visitors.
The law is another factor. Under the GDPR and the Dutch cookie rules, you must ask for consent for tracking and marketing cookies. That obligation remains, even if Chrome allows third-party cookies.
Here are a few reasons why your data will never be complete:
- Cookie banners: some visitors refuse marketing cookies. You then see those visitors only partially, or not at all, in your figures.
- Other browsers: Safari and Firefox have been restricting tracking for years.
- Ad blockers and privacy tools: some scripts are blocked before they measure anything.
- Multiple devices: someone clicks on their phone and buys on their laptop. Cookies often fail to connect the two.
- Google’s own rules: since March 2024, you must use Consent Mode v2 in Europe to keep using audiences and conversion measurement in Google Ads. This is a setting that passes on whether a visitor has given consent.
The result is that your advertising often performs better than your figures suggest. You do not see some of the conversions. This leads to poor decisions, for example if you stop a good campaign because it appears to deliver too little.
What does work
The alternative is first-party data. This is information that customers and visitors share with you themselves, with their consent. Think of an email address, an order, a completed form or behaviour on your own website. You own it, and you are not dependent on a browser.
Here is what you can do with it in practice:
- Uploading a customer list: you load a list of customers (encrypted) into Google Ads or Meta. The platform recognises which of them have an account. You can then reach those people, exclude them or use them as the basis for a lookalike audience.
- Linking your CRM to your advertising: a CRM is the system in which you keep track of customer contacts. When you link it, you can send back which leads actually became customers. This way, advertising platforms learn from revenue rather than just from clicks.
- Enhanced conversion measurement: with features such as enhanced conversions (Google), you pass on encrypted customer data with a purchase or enquiry. The platform uses this to fill gaps in measurement.
- Server-side tracking: conversions are sent to Google or Meta not only via the visitor’s browser but also via your own server. This is more stable and easier to manage.
- Email and newsletters: a channel that belongs to you and for which you need no advertising budget.
This only works properly if you have consent and your privacy statement is accurate. Only use data for the purpose for which people gave it.
What this looks like in practice
Suppose you have an online shop selling garden furniture. You advertise via Google and Meta, and you measure everything with just a pixel in the browser. A large share of your visitors are on an iPhone using Safari. Others refuse cookies. As a result, your report shows fewer purchases than appear in your shop system.
You conclude that your campaigns are not profitable and reduce the budget. The advertising algorithm then receives even fewer signals to learn from. The campaigns genuinely get worse, even though they were actually performing fine before.
Now consider the other route. You link your customer list, switch on enhanced conversions and also send orders through your own server. You still do not measure everything, because nobody does. But the picture is far more complete, and the platforms receive more usable signals. You can allocate your budget based on figures you can trust.
Your head start and how to extend it
Companies that have invested in their own data in recent years measure better and advertise more intelligently. They have a list of customers they can work with. They know which channels genuinely generate revenue. That advantage does not disappear because of this news from Google.
Not there yet? You do not need to do everything at once. You can work step by step:
- Map out what data you have. Look at your online shop, CRM, email system and till. There is often more than you think.
- Handle consent properly. Make sure you have a cookie banner that works well and a clear privacy statement. Set up Consent Mode v2 if you use Google Ads.
- Improve your measurement. Check whether your conversions match what is recorded in your own system. Switch on enhanced conversion measurement.
- Link your CRM or customer list. Start with one platform and see what it delivers.
- Give people a reason to share data. An account, a newsletter with genuinely useful content or a benefit on a first order works better than a pop-up that only asks for an email address.
- Review every quarter. Platforms and rules change. What works today needs to be tested continually.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to change my cookie banner because of this news?
No. The consent requirement comes from the law, not from Chrome. Even with third-party cookies, you still need consent for marketing and tracking. Do make sure your banner works well and that the visitor’s choice is actually passed on to your tags.
Is a first-party cookie the same as first-party data?
No. A first-party cookie is a small file that your own website places on a visitor’s device. First-party data is the information you collect yourself from customers and visitors, such as email addresses, orders and behaviour on your site. This data can arrive via cookies, but also via forms, your till or your CRM.
Is first-party data relevant for a small business too?
Yes. You do not need a large database. Even a list of a few hundred customers or enquiries can help, for example to exclude customers from advertising or to improve your measurement. Start small and build from there.
Book a free 30-minute introductory call
Would you like to know how well your data and tracking are set up at the moment? Then book a free 30-minute introductory call with Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort. Together, we will look at your current measurement, your advertising and the data you already have. You will hear where the opportunities lie and which step is best to take first. There is no obligation.
