The digital advertising industry is at a turning point. Third-party cookies have powered targeted advertising for many years. Now these cookies are being phased out. This change is reshaping how advertisers, publishers, and technology platforms operate. It affects how audiences are targeted, how results are measured, and how marketing performance is tracked. The focus is shifting to privacy while still preserving marketing effectiveness.
Timeline of Cookie Deprecation
In January 2020, Google announced a plan to phase out third-party cookies within two years. This timeline has changed multiple times as the industry responds to technical and regulatory challenges. The initiative behind this phase-out is called the Privacy Sandbox.
The Privacy Sandbox offers new technologies to support advertising in ways that protect user privacy. These ideas have gone through several testing phases. The timeline has been extended to allow more time for development and testing. But the overall direction remains: third-party cookies will no longer be a reliable way to target or measure advertising.
Google's approach now lets users choose whether to disable third-party cookies in their browsing experience. This change represents a more flexible, user-centric approach compared to the original plan.
As Chrome still accounts for a large portion of web traffic, advertisers and publishers must prepare for a future in which third-party cookies lose their effectiveness.
Australia's Privacy and Regulatory Context
In Australia, cookie deprecation coincides with updates to the Privacy Act. These reforms increase requirements around data collection and use. They reflect global privacy trends, drawing on frameworks like the European Union's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Advertisers and publishers must manage both regulatory compliance and technical transformation at the same time. This requires careful planning and strategic decision-making. Companies must invest in systems that respect user privacy and navigate complex compliance requirements while still delivering value through marketing.
Emerging Cookieless Identity Solutions
As third-party cookies become less reliable, new identity solutions are emerging. These solutions help advertisers target and measure audiences without relying on cookie tracking. Each solution works differently, and none fully replace cookies in all scenarios.
Examples include:
LiveRamp's Authenticated Traffic Solution. This system matches first-party data with a people-based identifier. It helps advertisers and publishers reach audiences without cookies.
Adobe Audience Match. This allows advertisers to upload first-party data and link it to large publisher audiences. This expands targeting opportunities outside traditional environments like Facebook and Google.
Privacy Sandbox APIs (formerly FLEDGE and Topics API). These browser-level tools support interest-based targeting and on-device advertising without sending detailed user profiles to third parties.
These technologies rely on aggregated data and user consent. They represent a shift away from traditional cookie-based techniques toward new privacy-first approaches.
Importance of First-Party Data
The move away from third-party cookies has accelerated investment in first-party data strategies. First-party data includes information collected directly from users through interactions on sites, apps, and customer experiences. This data is more accurate and trusted because it comes directly from the user.
First-party data allows marketers to:
- Build more reliable audience segments.
- Improve targeting and measurement accuracy.
- Maintain compliance with evolving privacy rules.
Collecting first-party data effectively requires creating incentives for users to share their information. This often involves clear communication about how the data will be used and how this benefits the user.
Data Collaboration and Clean Rooms
Because first-party data is limited to each individual organisation, new tools help combine data securely without sharing raw user data. Data clean rooms and data collaboration platforms enable privacy-preserving insights across organisations.
These tools allow:
- Cross-organisation audience analysis.
- Insights without exposing personal data.
- Improved measurement and targeting that aligns with privacy standards.
Adopting these technologies supports marketing effectiveness in a cookieless environment.
Preparing for Ongoing Change
Moving away from third-party cookies is not a one-time event. It is part of a broader shift toward privacy-centric advertising systems. Browser policies, user expectations, and global regulations will continue to evolve.
Organisations that succeed will:
- Continuously test new cookieless solutions.
- Build flexible marketing strategies.
- Invest in first-party data infrastructure.
- Use clean room and privacy-enhancing technologies to power insights.
Delaying action or relying on outdated cookie-based strategies will likely reduce competitive advantage. Organisations that proactively embrace privacy-first marketing will thrive as the digital landscape changes. Reach out to an ADMATICian today to explore more about how this will impact your business.