Keeping up with third-party cookie consent: a roundup of recent developments in user privacy

Keeping up with cookie consent: a roundup of recent developments in user privacy 

With constant updates in the world of analytics tracking, online advertising and user privacy, it can be challenging for charities to figure out how to stay on top of it all in a way that balances the legal side of things with getting the best results from your data and marketing. In this article, we break down a couple of recent developments in this area and how they might or might not affect you.

Google is no longer phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome 

What are third-party cookies? 

Third party cookies are often placed on your website by companies whose tracking tools you use, such as Google Ads. You can tell if a cookie is a third-party by looking at the domain. A cookie that lists your own website domain, such as yourwebsite.com, is a first-party cookie, and a cookie that lists another website domain, such as doubleclick.net, is a third-party cookie. 

Why was Google getting rid of third-party cookies? 

As third-party cookies are often used for advertising, they can track users across websites and collect data on browsing behaviour to help select personalised ads to show. This is seen by many as a privacy concern, especially where explicit consent is not given, and many people are not fully informed about how these cookies work. Third-party cookie blocking is already a feature of other browsers, such as Firefox and Safari, as part of efforts to make their browsers more privacy-friendly for users. 

What is the impact of not using third-party cookies? 

Not using third-party cookies would, of course, mean not having the ability to track user behaviour across websites in the same way, potentially making it more difficult to show people accurately personalised ads. Considering Google is the owner of the most-used browser in the world (Chrome), the most-used search engine in the world (Google Search) and the largest pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform in the world (Google Ads), the impact of Google moving away from third party cookies in Chrome would be substantial. Advertisers big and small would be faced with the disruption of changing how they work entirely and having added risks around how effective the new methods might be compared to third-party cookies. On the other hand, many may also see a substantial positive impact in terms of user privacy. 

Why isn’t Google phasing out third-party cookies anymore? 

Google first announced its new privacy sandbox in 2019, followed by the depreciation of third-party cookies in 2020, and in the years since it has continuously tried to make it work. Unfortunately, for a host of reasons, this has been challenging. Firstly, there were, of course, concerns from advertisers who are quite reliant on using third-party cookies the way they are. Secondly, a change of this scale is quite disruptive, as people have to completely re-think their advertising and how to make it work with the new sandbox, weighing up the risks around ad performance with the new system. Thirdly, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also raised concerns that Google already has such a large market share of online advertising, and then switching to their new sandbox could hinder competition even further. 

What is Google doing instead of removing third-party cookies? 

Instead of removing third-party cookies, Google is opting to use a solution similar to browsers like Safari and Firefox, giving users the ability to choose whether to accept third-party cookies. 

How does this affect your charity? 

For now, it seems that third-party cookies will continue to be used. However, with more and more browsers now granting users the ability to block third-party cookies completely, it may be advisable to start experimenting with alternatives for advertising to increase your chances of success with users who do not consent to third-party cookies. Potential solutions could include moving towards first-party data, focusing more on contextual advertising, or experimenting with Google’s privacy sandbox. As always, ensure your tracking is GDPR compliant and follows best practice for Google Consent Mode v2.