Liam Walsh
Liam is a Co-Director at Intelligency and heads up the agency's Digital Intelligence & Paid Social activity. Over the last decade, he has worked with brands from the world of sports such as Premier League clubs to entertainment such as Channel 4 and Disney.
In a major U-turn, Google has announced that its plan to block third-party cookies, the “Cookiepocalypse”, has been cancelled. This was first announced four years ago and has caused trepidation for marketeers and brands since then.
Why have Google cancelled their cookie plan?
Third-party cookies are the files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website and brands have been able to access this data to target audiences. By doing this a company such as Dominos, will be able to reach a user who has recently visited their website, by targeting them with an ad on a different website. This ability to track consumer behaviour has been a key element of digital marketing.
Google had initially chosen to block third-party cookies in an attempt to protect users’ privacy however, their alternative proposal to replace cookies “The Privacy Sandbox” was met with disdain from the marketing community. The Competition and Markets Authority, the UK competition watchdog even stepped in, in 2021 as they feared that Google’s actions could lead to advertisers being more susceptible to working with Google-led products and systems thus causing a potential monopoly in the market.
What has been the reaction?
There has been backlash from the UK’s data privacy watchdog who was said to be disappointed by the decision. In their view, this move favours advertisers over individuals. Conversely, the head of advertising at The Trade Desk has welcomed the reversal. Jeff Green has said that Google would have caused major issues by pursuing this cookie policy and that by cancelling the plan, they have acknowledged that giving users the choice of opting out of cookies is the best way to protect privacy as well as marketing strategies.
What will Google do as an alternative?
Google will seek a new approach which will allow users to make an informed choice and has begun conversations with regulators about how best to do this. Industry experts have claimed that this is a tacit acceptance of Google keeping third-party cookies. However, this will still come with pop-ups on sites which will allow users to opt-out.
