Third-party cookie
Fast track (Summarised definition)
Third-party cookies enable cross-site tracking for advertising personalisation but are being phased out due to privacy concerns. Marketers must adapt through first-party data collection, contextual advertising, and privacy-compliant tracking solutions. Requires strategic shifts toward direct customer relationships and cookieless measurement alternatives.
Full lap (Full definition)
Third-party cookies are tracking files placed by domains other than the website being visited, enabling cross-site tracking and advertising personalisation. For marketers, the phase-out of third-party cookies represents a fundamental shift requiring new strategies for audience targeting, measurement, and personalisation across digital marketing channels.
Third-party cookies have traditionally enabled retargeting campaigns, cross-site conversion tracking, and audience building across multiple websites and platforms. Businesses have relied on these capabilities for attribution analysis, lookalike audience creation, and personalised advertising experiences. The deprecation timeline varies by browser, with Safari and Firefox already blocking most third-party cookies.
Replacement strategies include first-party data collection, contextual advertising, and privacy-focused targeting solutions. Businesses should prioritise email list building, customer data platform implementation, and direct customer relationship development to reduce reliance on third-party tracking mechanisms.
Server-side tracking and privacy-compliant measurement solutions help marketers maintain attribution capabilities while respecting user privacy preferences. Google Analytics 4, Facebook Conversions API, and other platform-specific solutions provide cookieless tracking alternatives.
Contextual advertising represents a growing opportunity for businesses, targeting audiences based on website content and user intent rather than historical tracking data. This approach aligns with privacy expectations while potentially improving ad relevance and performance through contextual relevance rather than behavioural targeting alone.
The transition to cookieless marketing requires strategic planning, technology implementation, and process changes across marketing organisations. Businesses should begin preparing for cookie deprecation by developing first-party data strategies, testing new measurement approaches, and building direct customer relationships that support long-term marketing effectiveness without relying on third-party tracking.