Marketing Ethics: A Cookieless Future

Internet cookies technology concept.

Business Ethics are one of the most crucial parts of business operations in the current day and age, and rightfully so. Ethical businesses succeed because most customers prefer the brands that they purchase from. Customers today have a variety of options, so ethics can really set you aside. Like all business operations, ethics play a crucial role in Marketing Departments. This is because marketers are using very specific data that the consumers may or may not be aware of that is being shared. This is why, it is important that Marketers are also handling the data ethically, responsibly, and legally. Brands may engage customers with high trust, customer loyalty, large market share, greater brand value, better sales, and better revenue by implementing proper marketing ethics. Additionally, there has been a rise in this dialogue about data privacy for marketing because of the recent policies such as the EU’s GDPR. (Kurzer, 2018)

What is cookieless advertising?

A cookie is a data that browsers such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox utilize, and these cookies store bits of information that are personally identifiable. As marketers, we use this data to target users based on the likes, dislikes, brands they use, etc. in order to better sell our products. In order to understand the term cookieless, it is important to realize the differences between two cookies; First-party and Third-Party.

Types of Cookies

First-Party Cookies are created by the same website that the user is currently using, and these usually save information such as username, password, consumers language preference, and carts they have saved on the website. (IBM, 2021) On the other hand, Third-Party Cookies are controversial, because they are created by domains that the consumer is NOT using. These tend to save information that will most likely be used for marketing and targeting purposes. For example, they will save used site navigation data as they toggle through websites, use Ad serving which is displaying the ads in an optimized and targeted way, and also enable Adware. (Bump, 2022) These cookies are controversial because while they are very effective for the marketers and brands in reaching their target audience, the user has not even interacted with this domain, so it is difficult to justify the use of the third-party domain to store users’ data. Major companies are taking steps to phase out and stop using third-party cookies. This is because not only do they violate the privacy of end-users, but also have become inefficient and ineffective in recent years. (Publift, 2022) As a marketer and a consumer, this topic is particularly dividing. As a marketer, third-party cookies can be an effective tool if it is used in combination with other marketing tools. However, third-party cookies also do violate privacy and store data that the user did not necessarily agree to.

If I need to decide – I would err on the side of cookie-less because there are many advantages that come with it.

Why go cookieless?

Reaching the consumers in the right state of mind

Without third-party or cookie advertisements, consumers will not \be given information that does not necessarily align with their intents. For example, when someone is searching for “Hiking Boots”, third-party cookies can indicate that the consumer is looking for shoes and boots and general and that may not be their intent and deem the advertisement ineffective.

Cookieless Targeting helps in gaining real insights

Marketers may monitor real-time information and optimize for maximum performance because relevant advertising campaigns are supplied accurately to consumers. Additionally, we can use the metrics from these targeted advertisements in order to better optimize their advertisements through KPI analysis, and the use of factors like keywords, and page optimizations.

Builds Brand Recognition

As we mentioned before, consumers now more than before are conscious about what and where the brand is choosing to advertise. Relevant advertisements that are targeted allow the company to focus on their target customer base more appropriately and the consumers will have a better chance of knowing the brand because it follows their search intent.

Transparency for users

Cookieless advertisements will allow consumers to have stronger control over their data. (IBM, 2021) Moving on, the website will give the consumers to give consent or agree to allow cookies which means that they will know what and who is collecting their data. Consumers need to have the choice of consenting to the data collection and advertising needs to protect consumer data. This is an opportunity for all marketers and advertisers to adapt and respect user privacy. (Gross, 2021)

A Cookieless Marketing Industry

The marketing industry is adapting to be more ethical because the change is already happening and Big Tech companies such as Google and Apple Inc., have taken significant steps in this because of laws and policies announced nationally, and internationally. For example the GDPR act and the California Privacy Protection Law. Google announced that it has “phase out” third-party cookies in its Chrome browser ‘within two years,” which means by 2022 (Bowles, 2021), and Apple announced that the users will be able to opt out of sharing information about their IOS ecosystem. “Today, we’re making explicit that once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products” Google tweeted. However, tech companies have not been readily accepting this because they believe that this law hinders the efficiency and the innovativeness of the Advertisements and provides less opportunity and choice for the users. (Mellor, 2022) /

What do marketers and advertisers have to do differently now?

With the lack of data available about consumers’ activities through third-party cookies, the job of a Marketer will be complicated and challenging. It is now more important than ever that Marketers put more focus on contextual and targeted advertisement campaigns, and focus on what and who the customer is as well as how the company can add value.  60% of senior executives say that the loss of third-party cookies will have a disruptive effect on their marketing. (Abramovich, 2021)

Marketers can try and utilize the first-party data for their benefit. This data includes phone numbers and emails. These can be used in order to create an optimized consumer base and the company can target based on factors such as demographics, income, age, etc.

Marketers would now have to be more focused on the consumer experience, and consumer relationship with the brand because that will be the way that consumers are generally attracted to the brand. However, the consumers would not be able to trust the companies and marketing more now. For companies that relied mainly on third-party cookies, advertisements would benefit from understanding the consumers, and why they would want the product the company is selling.

Without third-party cookies to provide marketers with audience insights that help them target and customize, developing more personalized experiences would become more difficult. Marketers should try and create content that is relevant to their target customers and helps them in engaging.

This change has its pros and cons, just like everything else. However, in my opinion, these pros outweigh the cons and provide for a better, safe, and transparent use for the users. Marketers must use this as an opportunity to strengthen other marketing techniques and utilize Martech tools for their benefit.