What Will Replace the Cookie?

Targeted advertising or marketing relies upon being able to identify a consumer and then sending that consumer the specific information or ad at a specific time to get them to purchase or look at whatever product. For years upon years this was a very simple task for any marketing or advertising agent by the use of various third-party identifiers. 

However, as platforms and regulators seek to strengthen data privacy and security policies for users, the identifiers that advertisers use to do this are under attack, most notably by destroying the third-party cookie. Marketers are scrambling to try and find the alternative solution or the “next cookie”, but should they be focused on finding a new cookie or figuring out how to properly educate consumers to easily obtain consumer consent?

How consumers view targeted advertising

Today, some marketers are searching for ways to “replace the cookie,” which, if customers do not consent to be monitored and targeted by advertisers, is a doomed idea. It is prolonging or procrastinating the obvious future of data privacy and collection that has been written on the walls by various governments and legislation, which is more regulation and power to consumers. The EU put the GDPR into place in 2018 and California’s CCPA was put into effect this past January and the CPRA is soon to follow. 

The main problem is consumer data education is seen by the ad tech ecosystem as the key to getting that consent, but consumers have expressed concerns for more than a decade. There are multiple studies that show how your average consumer attaches a sense of negativity and invasiveness to targeted advertising.

Why should companies bother educating consumers?

In 2010 eMarketer already foresaw the issues that still surround data collection today stating, “Education without effective empowerment with regard to their own data may not be enough for consumers to get comfortable with targeting.” There has never been any sort of structured system put in place or any sort of transparency when it comes to the data collection industry and how targeted advertisements affect consumers. There hasn’t been even the slightest attempt to illustrate to the public how real-time bidding (RTB) works and what it means about who and what companies process their data. Yet there has been a huge increase in spending on targeted digital ads with little to no attention or finances being focused on the consumer education aspect of the industry.

Consumers are willing to give consent to data collection and targeted advertising when they are not only educated about how they’re data is being used, but when that education is focused around how they as a consumer can control and make choices themselves. Around three-quarters of US adults surveyed by geofencing company Herow in November 2019 said that if they were given a straightforward and simple way to monitor whether and how their data was used, they would be more likely to share their locational data.

So, while marketers and advertisers are looking for the “next cookie”, we suggest doing what consumers actually want. Educating and getting permission from consumers on how and why their data is being used. This is why Loginhood is the only privacy tool that enables consumers to opt-into more data sharing and personalized messaging. By allowing your customers to tell you what they’re most interested in shopping for or reading about, you can curate a more personalized digital experience for every individual. Contact us to learn how we help businesses collect opted-in data.’