So Google has announced that it won't be actively deprecating third-party cookies as originally planned. That shouldn’t distract you in your efforts to modernise your identity strategy. The 3rd party cookie will still fade away, and the future of successful digital marketing will still require an advanced approach to first party data (as the leader of a pack of other identity solutions). The role of a Customer Data Platform in this ecosystem is pivotal, offering comprehensive capabilities to leverage first-party data for more effective marketing.

The Current State of Cookies

Despite Google’s announcement, the 3rd party cookie still has an expiry date. It plans to implement measures that make it easier for consumers to make informed consent choices. This move, a positive for user privacy, is likely to accelerate the decline in cookie-based tracking. As users become more aware and have easier opt-out options, the pool of trackable users could shrink rapidly. It may never be 100% eradicated, but the number will likely become too low to be an effective solution.

The Path Forward: Embracing Alternative Solutions

Therefore it remains crucial for marketers and media owners to invest in privacy-centric alternatives to maintain data-driven use cases. Some key areas to focus on include:

1. Consented First-Party Data: Building direct relationships with users and collecting data with their explicit consent is becoming increasingly valuable.
2. Universal IDs: These provide a way to identify users across different platforms without relying on third-party cookies.
3. Data Collaboration: Partnerships that allow for secure and privacy-compliant data sharing can help fill the gaps left by diminishing cookie data.
4. Contextual Targeting: This approach focuses on the content users are engaging with rather than their personal data, offering a privacy-friendly alternative.
5. Edge Computing Solutions: These can process data locally, reducing the need for centralised data collection and enhancing privacy.

First party data puts you in control of your destiny

The identity landscape is on moving ground. Whilst some solutions provide a very real opportunity for marketers and media owners, there remains an element of uncertainty in how this innovative area of our industry will play out.

Because of this, any strategy should place 1st party data at its heart. A stronghold of consented customer data is a stable and ownable asset that you have sole control of. It will be a crucial differentiator, guiding acquisition and retention through to monetisation, insights and personalisation.

Publishers and brands need to prioritise having the right infrastructure to maximise the security, compliance and ‘actionability’ of their 1st party data.

The renewed role of modern CDPs for a data-centric strategy

As we navigate this shifting landscape, and as 1st party data continues to grow in prominence, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are becoming more important than ever. Here's why:

1. Data Unification: CDPs excel at bringing together data from various sources, creating a unified customer view without relying on third-party cookies.
2. ID Agnostic: Ability to ingest any type of identifier, including PII, to maximise addressability.
3. First-Party Data Activation: With the increasing importance of first-party data, CDPs provide the tools to collect, manage, and activate this valuable resource effectively. CDPs have connections with your broader AdTech and MarTech stack, simplifying the centralisation of your 1st party data from all sources to create a single customer view and an interface to query and activate that data easily.  
4. Privacy Compliance: Modern CDPs are built with privacy in mind, helping organisations navigate complex regulations and respect user preferences.
5. Personalisation at Scale: Even without third-party cookies, CDPs enable personalised experiences by leveraging first-party data and other identity solutions.
6. Future-Proof Strategy: As the digital landscape evolves, CDPs offer the flexibility to adapt to new technologies and data sources, ensuring long-term viability.

Our Product Vision: Enabling the modern data-centric reality

mediarithmics has long been actively engaged in helping our clients thrive without 3rd party cookies. With this announcement, that does not change.

Our product vision is focused on continuing to help our customers use their data better; to maximise the value of their data to make it a central driver of revenue growth. We're not just helping our clients survive without using third-party cookies – we're positioning them to thrive in the privacy-first, data-centric modern day reality.

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