You are here: Home / Blog / How Google Stopping Support for Third-Party Cookies Impacts Your Paid Online Ads
By on Aug 9, 2021
With privacy concerns on the rise, Google recently announced that it’s going to stop supporting third-party cookies. This means that Google will no longer be tracking how a user interacts with third-party sites and will not show ads to users as they travel the Internet based on their browsing history. This change is part of Google’s ongoing initiative to develop a set of open standards to enhance privacy on the web.
Using Google ads management services helps many businesses drive relevant, qualified traffic to their websites. Google remains an effective advertising channel, but this shift may change your business’s advertising and SEM strategy. Fortunately, it will not affect first-party cookies collected on a business’s own site. Let us explain.
When you visit a website, the website you’re on will send cookies (pieces of code) to your computer. Your computer stores this information in the web browser you are using (Chrome, Safari, etc.). This code could then be used to track you as you travel to other sites and show you targeted advertising relating to what you viewed on the website where you picked up the cookie.
In the past, this third-party data could be purchased or otherwise obtained so advertisers could build a profile of interests based on the sites users visited and use that data to deliver focused Google ad content. An example of this is if a user’s browsing history included multiple sports-related sites, they may be targeted to receive advertisements for team jerseys or game tickets as they travel to other websites or social media.
In its announcement of the change, Google’s Director of Product Management, Ads Privacy and Trust, David Temkin, wrote, “Keeping the Internet open and accessible for everyone requires all of us to do more to protect privacy — and that means an end to not only third-party cookies, but also any technology used for tracking individual people as they browse the web.”
Google’s shift for Chrome will no longer support the use of third-party cookies to track users across the web and Google Ads will no longer allow advertisers to use third-party data for ads targeting. This will limit a company’s insight into new audiences that haven’t engaged with their brand. Some fear that this shift will give an advantage to large companies and brands like Amazon and Coca-Cola, because they will have the resources to purchase various consumer targeting data from companies like Experian.
The end of third-party cookies is not the end of all types of tracking however. While Google plans to phase out third-party cookies on its Chrome browser, first-party cookies will remain. First-party cookies are pieces of data collected through your business’s own website. These cookies allow the browser to remember user information, such as your username and password and language preferences.
First-party data can give a competitive advantage since your business maintains exclusive ownership of it. As Google phases out third-party cookie tracking, Google ads management services and developing strong relationships with users can help businesses build an alternative successful marketing strategy. This is why many experts are suggesting businesses start to leverage their first-party cookie data.
First-party data is more relevant to your advertising goals since it is information about your existing visitors and customers. By learning from your current website visitors, a Google advertising agency can help you develop an effective marketing strategy that encourages these users to take action and convert and provide keyword insight to target new visitors.
Despite the loss of third-party cookies, Google ads management services continue to be effective because they allow businesses to deliver ads to users who are the most likely to be interested in their products and services while filtering out those who aren’t. Google’s Display Network reaches 90% of Internet users worldwide and HubSpot reported Google Search advertising as one of the paid channels with the highest ROI.
Google still offers customizable ad options to maximize marketing dollars through different targeting information, including:
Another benefit of Google paid advertising is that a business only pays when someone clicks on their ad(s), also referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Since there is no minimum budget for Google ads, advertisers have better control of the money they are putting toward paid advertising.
One of the most significant benefits of paid advertising is the ability to quickly measure and manage your advertising efforts. By seeing which ads are getting clicks and which ones aren’t Google ads management services can help you make informed decisions regarding your budget to boost your return on investment (ROI). Google estimates that businesses receive $8 in profit through Google Search and Ads for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.
In recent years, Google continues to innovate and make changes to its services to put emphasis on creating a positive user experience. While these changes are ongoing, Google continues to be a leader in search and advertising, making Google ads an important part of any business’s marketing strategy. At Umbrella Local, our Google ads management services work with you to create effective campaigns that convert to leads and sales.
Contact us today to learn more about the Umbrella Local way of doing Google advertising.
Use our free tool to get your score calculated in under 60 seconds.
