Digital marketers should accelerate efforts to trial new targeting and measuring strategies after Google said it will phase out third party cookies on its Chrome browser from the second half of 2024.
In a statement, responding to the announcement, the Internet Advertising Bureau for the UK (IAB UK) said Google’s announcement underscores the shift that is taking place to move to a more “privacy conscious” ecosystem in digital advertising.
“This isn’t something that is going to happen, it’s already underway,” said Jon Mew, chief executive officer of IAB UK.
“This timeline change gives more opportunities for stakeholders to trial available alternatives, via (Google’s) Privacy Sandbox or other solutions, and my message is simple: use this time wisely.”
Google has been urging companies to move from the use of cookies to five application programming interfaces. It is hopeful that the standards set by its Privacy Sandbox will become the accepted norm for ad targeting, fraud prevention and campaign performance measurement in the future.
“By being proactive and adopting alternative ways to effectively target and measure campaigns – regardless of this delay – businesses are not only future-proofing their operations, but making sure they are in line with our increasingly privacy-first present,” Mew said.