Planning for a cookie-less future: How browser and mobile privacy changes will impact marketing, targeting and analytics

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Abstract: Recent and impending changes to the way that browsers and mobile platforms handle third-party cookies and ad IDs will have a profound impact on the digital advertising ecosystem. This paper examines these changes in the context of the development of the ad-tech and digital media industry, and concludes that while these developments may benefit users by protecting them from intrusive third-party tracking and targeting, they risk further consolidating power with the three dominant companies in the sector, namely Google, Facebook and Amazon, and advertisers and marketers will have to work hard to ensure they do not become over-dependent on these suppliers. At the same time, the changes offer an opportunity to move back to a better equilibrium between advertising and the content that it appears alongside, driving value for both advertisers and consumers.

Keywords: privacy, cookies, ad-tech, Google, Facebook, Apple

Ian Thomas is a 20-year veteran of the data and analytics industry. He co-founded one of the industry’s first web analytics firms and has held senior data leadership roles at Microsoft and Publicis Groupe, dealing with some of the world’s largest and most complex datasets, and building effective cross-functional teams to bring data to life. He is now an independent consultant and interim chief data officer, advising businesses on how to build world-class data platforms and teams.