What's the Deal With Third-Party Cookies?

If you have had any interest in the digital marketing world over the past several years, you have likely heard the drama going down with third-party cookies. For years, there were talks of third-party cookies being officially retired from the Chrome landscape, but Google just announced that this is no longer happening.

We know the third-party cookie fiasco has been confusing, so let's quickly break down all that’s happened over the past few years and talk about where these cookies are headed.

Starting at the Beginning: What even is a cookie?

To put it simply, a cookie is how something on the Internet remembers you.

Cookies are files or information that web servers send to the users of a website that end up stored on the user’s machine. While there are many different types of cookies that serve different purposes, it may be helpful to think of cookies like the rewards card at your favorite store: cookies build up your unique identity, allowing you to pick up where you left off with a personalized experience when you visit a website. In return, they give that website a better understanding of your browsing practices, making them very useful for marketing purposes.

These properties of cookies can create better experiences for parties on both ends of an online transaction, but as you would expect, they can also create significant data privacy concerns, which is how we get to the issue at hand.

So why were third-party cookies going away?

First, it’s helpful to clarify the types of cookies that we are talking about. As you have probably seen on any website with a “cookie preferences” pop-up, there are different types of cookies in the jar, so to speak.

The cookies in danger of crumbling were third-party cookies. These cookies are generated and sent to a user’s device not by the domain of the site they are visiting, but by a third party (hence the name). This may sound scary, but if you have ever run digital ads for your business, then you have directly benefited from third-party cookies.

Third-party cookies are how marketers gather data on their target audience’s interests and browsing practices, which is why their potential depreciation (that’s developer speak for “retirement”) was a big concern. But, as stated above, this isn’t happening anymore.

So third-party cookies are really here to stay?

Yup. At least that’s what Google is telling us for now. After four years of teasing a slow removal of third-party cookies, Privacy Sandbox, Google’s relatively new division for handling the replacement of cookie tracking, just announced that the plan has been called off.

After navigating the complexities of regulations, Google has currently opted to keep third-party cookies around while giving its users more control of the way cookies are stored on their machines. Privacy Sandbox will still keep developing privacy-friendly tracking solutions to work alongside third-party cookies.

What does this mean for my business?

While it is still a little early to tell the full implications of the continuation of third-party cookies, it certainly seems like a win-win scenario. Marketers will still be able to capture valuable data to drive their ad campaigns, and Internet users will have more assurance that their data is being handled safely.

Of course, the changes to cookie permissions will limit the amount of data points readily available, but overall, Google's decision to keep third-party cookies around is a major win for marketers around the world.

P.S. If the crumby puns sprinkled throughout weren't enough for you, give this video a watch for some more cookie-based humor 🍪