Sweet or Bitter: The Future of (Marketing) Cookies

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Since the GDPR, the topic of cookies has been a hot topic in the marketing world. Which cookies are allowed, and to what extent are web analytics and online advertising still possible with the current challenges? Is the end of cookies near? Navigating the new regulations, choosing the right technology, making appropriate settings, and interpreting data correctly is a challenge for many companies.

We asked our warrior and analytics expert from the SEO and web analytics team about privacy-compliant tracking options available with and without cookies and what the future might bring.

Marketing Revolution - The End of Cookies?

Marketing is undergoing a transformation, and this change is noticeable in many areas. Safari and Firefox already have relatively strict privacy policies, making tracking harder or even impossible. Chrome announced that third-party cookies or vendor cookies will soon no longer be supported, but this introduction has been postponed by another year.

How should the new developments be assessed? Opinions vary depending on the perspective. Many individuals are critical and do not like being tracked because they do not know exactly what is being tracked and what happens to the data. From this perspective, it's a positive move.

On the other hand, it is suboptimal for web analytics, as current tracking is based on cookies and all tools are designed for it. This means that marketers currently rely on cookies not only for web analytics but also for using other services, such as paid advertising, social media, affiliate marketing, or Google Ads. Tracking is always based on cookies, and depending on the implementation, problems will arise in the future. However, there are some promising developments on the other side.

Using Server-Side Tracking in a Privacy-Compliant Manner

The problem with server-side tracking is: users are unaware of the tracking because it is executed on the server, and they cannot counteract it. No adblocker, service, or technology like Intelligent Tracking Prevention works against this kind of tracking.

InfoBox:
Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) = a technology implemented in the Safari browser to automatically prevent unwanted third-party tracking without users having to enable it actively.

Enhanced Tracking Protection = the solution in Firefox that blocks tracking.

This makes the solution very delicate, especially when user profiles are created. 

Tracking can be utilized in two ways: First, for the website analysis: Which pages are accessed, how fast does the page load, which browsers are accessing it, etc.? Additionally, user profiles can be created for marketing activities to, for instance, target all users over 35 who have accessed certain pages and fulfill other criteria. 

And as soon as these profiles are created, tracking must be mandatorily linked to the cookie banner, regardless of the use of cookies. (The German term “Cookie Banner” that has become common is somewhat misleading compared to the English term. The English term “Consent Manager” better describes the function: Users must agree to certain actions that are not limited to cookies.) This applies not only to Google Analytics but also to Matomo, etracker, or Facebook.

Therefore, if you want to use server-side tracking, we strongly recommend using the cookie banner to stay on the safe side of privacy regulations. Ideally, you should have experts by your side who can advise you on the topic and monitor privacy compliance during implementation.

The Benefits of Server-Side Tracking

Server-side tracking provides more data because it offers two advantages:

1. It bypasses all adblockers and technologies like Intelligent Tracking Prevention and Enhanced Tracking Protection. This means that browsers like Safari, which block tracking by default, are still captured, providing more data. However, to track in a privacy-compliant way, the cookie banner (or Consent Manager in English) must be used. Therefore, to obtain more data, the banner must be optimized so that as many users as possible agree to the tracking.

2. The second advantage of server-side tracking is the capture of returning users. With some effort, tracking can be implemented so that instead of third-party cookies, first-party cookies are set, and cookies in the browser are no longer automatically deleted. This makes more information available, such as recurring users.

InfoBox:
Third-party cookies = Cookies set by a different web server. An example from affiliate marketing: A click on an affiliate link redirects the user to a web server that sets a third-party cookie before redirecting to the target page.
First-party cookies = Cookies set by your own web server and are therefore more complicated to implement.

A Glimpse into the Web Analytics Crystal Ball - What Does the Future of Tracking Look Like?

The developments of the major browsers in the area of cookies and tracking indicate the direction, albeit at varying speeds. In Firefox, the “rebel among browsers” or the open-source solution, the cookie blocker has been in place for some years. 

In the meantime, Apple has also embraced the issue of privacy. With the iOS 14.5 update, we noticed in the agency that the data changed completely. The changeover had massive impacts on the advertising industry. 

Now, Chrome has also announced similar efforts, even though with a time delay. This is mainly explainable by the fact that Google, which stands behind Chrome, primarily focuses on advertising. Google recently introduced an alternative named FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts). The technology is based on AI and machine learning and creates cohorts of users. This allows advertisers to specifically target certain user groups without cookies. However, this segment must somehow store data on the user. FLoC was introduced worldwide a few months ago but was deemed non-compliant with data protection regulations in Europe and could not be used. Thus, this direction will not proceed for now.

Cookie-Free Future?

Our warrior analytics experts suspect that the future will move towards a cookie-free environment. However, a solution must be found to tag users without storing the information on the user. 

Technologies like fingerprinting already exist. They try to individualize and address users based on their technology and behavior. For instance: What is the IP address? How big is the hard drive? Which monitor is being used? How many plugins are installed in the browser? Which browser is being used? How does the user surf? The server of the advertiser remembers this information and creates a “fingerprint” of the individual user. However, if many different devices and users use the same devices and IP address, such individualization is not possible; individual users cannot be distinctly differentiated. Therefore, Google officially announced at the Google Analytics Summit a few years ago that they were abandoning fingerprinting. It would have been a cookie-free technology, but it did not prove to be successful and is therefore not used.

For consent banners, there will likely be more solutions in the future, allowing users to agree to or decline tracking directly in the browser. This means that the cookie banner does not have to be shown and confirmed or declined every time a website is visited. The banners will practically no longer appear.

So, there are various exciting developments, and we are very curious to see how tracking and web analytics will evolve in the future.

Tracking Experience and Expertise at internetwarriors

Over the past few years, as internetwarriors, we have gathered extensive experience with a variety of tracking methods and tools, assisting our clients and gladly offering our expertise to you. Here's a brief overview of our expertise:

For example, we can set up cookieless tracking. This works with various services, such as Google Analytics, Matomo, or eTracker. However, we prefer cookie-based tracking as it is better and provides more data. Here, we can clearly categorize cookies into different categories: technically necessary cookies, marketing, statistics, etc. Ensure that channel allocation functions correctly and no users are incorrectly assigned to channels. Furthermore, we can exclude spam in the data and reporting and thus provide our customers with more meaningful numbers.

Another point is the cookie consent banner, with which we have gathered a lot of experience and conducted tests, resulting in significantly less data loss. Factors like wording and layout determine whether users click on “Accept All Cookies.” (Note: For more information, watch our webinar “Tips on Creating and Using Cookie Banners.” We are very well-versed in data protection and web analytics and can consider this in all events and conversions we track. 

We have also implemented Server Side Tracking with some customers. As it's a relatively new topic, and the technological prerequisites have only been available for a short time, we have not been able to gather as much experience with it. It is, however, a topic where we continuously improve and can support and advise: How does tracking with first-party cookies work? How can Google Analytics be integrated server-side to obtain better data? What is the difference between Google Analytics 4 and Google Universal Analytics? 

With that, we are very good contacts when it comes to ensuring data protection-compliant or GDPR-compliant tracking.

We hope you gained many new insights and knowledge from this article. If you're interested, feel free to read our whitepaper “Cookies Are Dead.”

Do You Need Support in Setting Up Privacy-Compliant Tracking?

If you want to set up tracking for your website or online shop in a privacy-compliant, clean, and efficient manner to obtain better data and analysis possibilities, our web analytics expert team is happy to assist, review your current setup, provide improvement suggestions, or completely set up tracking for you. Whether with or without marketing cookies, we will find an appropriate tracking solution for you!

Contact us without obligation!