fifty-five | Privacy

Third-party cookies deprecation alert!

Google has just announced the postponement of the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome.

Why?
The initial phase-out, scheduled for mid-August 2024, coincided with the back-to-school period, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., which are critical for advertisers. Additionally, the CMA, the British competition authority, was due to issue its assessment after this initial date.
Google has thus decided to wait for the CMA's assessment before providing any further information on the deletion of third-party cookies in Chrome.

What does the new timetable look like?
The CMA is currently expected to issue a report in the summer of 2024. Google has therefore postponed the deletion, initially scheduled for S2 2024, now aiming for early 2025.

What does this mean for advertisers?
This postponement doesn't change the need for advertisers to prepare, diversify targeting, and reinforce measurement.
Third-party cookies are already unusable on Safari and Firefox and are becoming increasingly inefficient on Chrome (CMP, Adblockers, cookie sync...).
It remains essential to continue optimizing data collection, diversifying targeting modes, strengthening and evolving measurement, and implementing server-side exchange protocols.

INTRODUCTION

At fifty-five, we are committed to guiding our customers and leading the market through the end of the cookie era. The deprecation of third-party cookies majorly impacts both measurement and activation in the marketing field; to anticipate and address new challenges in the best possible way, a clearly defined post-third-party cookie strategy is paramount.

Whether you find yourself at the discovery stage, still taking in the major changes linked to the end of third-party cookies, or ready to seize the opportunities offered by the new data collection tools on the market, you can find helpful resources on this page dedicated to post-cookie readiness.

BEFORE WE START

While the resources listed below will help you tackle the cookieless era through e-books, dedicated articles, use cases, and more, let’s first examine what the end of third-party cookies implies.

Third-party cookies have always been the alpha and omega of digital marketing for advertising targeting. Enabling user tracking on the web, these small text files were read, shared, and sold between different actors for decades. But today, collective awareness around invasive tracking practices and privacy has led to their gradual disappearance.

As this cornerstone of digital marketing vanishes, its disappearance is mostly felt by advertisers, whose ability to achieve effective activation is compromised.

Indeed, how does one personalize content for a website visitor on the open web or maintain controlled advertising pressure on an individual? Can audience lists still be shared with partners?

For the nascent cookieless era, no standards are yet set. Still, plenty of solutions exist to fill the void left by the disappearance of third-party cookies. All you need to do is find the one best suited for you.