Google announced on July 22, 2024, that they no longer plan to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, instead focusing on enhancing user choice.
While Chrome’s shift towards user choice creates uncertainty, it also presents an opportunity for enhanced transparency and user trust. This update from Chrome has elicited mixed feelings across the digital marketing industry, but the overwhelming consensus is that marketers still should not rely on third-party cookies for tracking. At CJ, we agree.
Navigating User Choice Models
Chrome's decision to focus on user choice will create some uncertainty until they provide clarity around what model they’ll use. If we look at existing user choice models like Apple's App Tracking Transparency, the Storage Access API, default browser settings to opt out of third-party tracking, and consent-based privacy laws like the GDPR, we can see a glimpse of what the future may look like in Chrome.
What we know today is that user choice models have drastically changed the level of visibility into customer journeys and shopping behavior. It’s been estimated that users accept no more than 20-30% of tracking requests through Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework. In the performance marketing space, this means channel attribution and publisher commissions are directly impacted. CJ has responded with solutions designed to safeguard tracking integrity, protect publisher commissions, and support our partners in this ever-evolving landscape.
CJ’s Strategic Solutions for Future-Proof Tracking
Google’s announcement highlights the growing importance of using tracking solutions that can adapt to browser and privacy changes and give advertisers and publishers more control. Solutions that leverage first-party data, domains, and cookies, as well as server-side and API-based solutions, all fall into that bucket.
CJ’s solutions for third-party cookie deprecation, Safari's ITP, adblockers, and data privacy legislation have focused on removing reliance on technologies that are not transparent to consumers, like third-party cookies. We began rolling out solutions in 2018 that leverage first-party data integrations with our publishers and advertisers, who own the relationship with the consumer. Our best-in-class tracking solutions don’t rely on third-party cookies.
The guidance we provide is centered on using a privacy-forward, holistic suite of tracking solutions that work together to create fail-safe redundancies. Our Publisher Tag and Universal Tag work together to improve visibility into the customer journey and reduce the tracking impact of adblockers, tracker blocking from browsers and ISPs, and third-party cookie deprecation. Our advertiser tracking solutions include concurrent tracking methods that safeguard conversion tracking when adblockers and browser privacy tools may otherwise prevent it. Our soon-to-be-released Publisher Tracking API will give publishers a direct integration with CJ that mitigates the risks of third-party tracking on click navigation and will enable bounceless tracking for a broader group of consumers.
We've built these solutions for much more than third-party cookie deprecation. First-party data integrations, API-based solutions, and solutions that embrace redundancy put all of us in a better position to adapt to future changes. Marketers’ focus should remain on building first-party data assets and obtaining user consent. Current user choice models show us that most users will not agree to tracking when given the choice, as seen with Apple’s ATT. We also need to keep in mind that third-party cookies are deprecated for over 30% of global web traffic, including in major browsers like Safari and Firefox, and that number is much higher in regions where Safari and iOS devices are more popular.
What CJ Clients Can Do
Read on to learn more about the ideal integrations and how to upgrade:
Advertisers
CJ advertisers integrated with our Universal Tag with Reverse Proxy and a backup tracking method are safe and in the best position to optimize performance with partners. We encourage you to make sure you’re using our best-in-class tracking solutions.
Ready to upgrade your tracking to CJ’s Universal Tag? First, review the Universal Tag Integration Overview with your development team and secure the dedicated resources to complete this update. Once you’ve successfully nailed down the team to start the work, file a support ticket through CJ’s Support Center to receive the necessary IDs specific to your program.
Publishers
CJ’s Publisher Tag currently supports publishers that place links directly on their website, i.e. content sites, as well as publishers that serve links via JavaScript, i.e. those that serve links via an interstitial page. Additional integration methods will be coming soon.
To learn more about CJ’s Publisher Tag integration, visit our Developer Portal. For questions, integration inquiries, or to speak to a Client Integration Engineer, file a support ticket using the following information: Case Reason > Publisher Tracking; Sub Reason > Tracking Review.
CJ’s Commitment
As Chrome makes more announcements, we'll test their solutions, measure the impact, and keep you updated. Tracking integrity is essential to growth and strong partnerships, and we're here to work with you on upgrading to our best-in-class tracking solutions if you haven't already. If you have, please stay tuned for more updates!
(Photo by Reza Rostampisheh on Unsplash)
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