Google is eliminating third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in 2024, a move that stands to change how promotional products companies and businesses across markets that previously used such cookies develop marketing strategies and undertake online advertising campaigns.

Need-to-Know Background

Cookies are blocks of data created by a web server while an internet user is on a website. These data blocks are then placed on the user’s computer or smart device by the browser.

Third-party cookies are put on a website by someone other than the site’s owner – a third-party, like an advertiser/advertising vendor, for instance. In effect, these cookies can be used to track internet users around the web.

Third-party cookies can provide a wealth of data to marketers about potential prospects, helping drive marketing strategy and enhancing advertisers’ efforts to target particular online ads to users. Still, third-party cookies are controversial, having been decried by critics as violating privacy.

“Removing third-party cookies is the latest step in protecting individual privacy, and I predict these efforts will only continue to expand,” asserts Phil Gergen, chief information officer at Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480).

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Other browsers, including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox, have already clamped down on the use of third-party cookies. Google’s decision to cut the cookies out on Chrome by the end of 2024 is a bigger deal for marketers because Chrome is the planet’s largest browser, accounting for about 65% of worldwide web traffic.

Last week, the phasing out began, with Google rolling out “Tracking Protection” to 1% of Chrome users. The feature limits cross-website tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default. As Gergen alluded to, Google says it’s doing this to better protect the privacy of Chrome users.

“When it comes to improving privacy on the web, the work is never finished,” says Anthony Chavez, vice president of Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative. “This includes taking steps to limit the ability to track your activity across different websites.”

Promo Reacts

The way Stacy Price and other promo executives see it, there are pros and cons to the elimination of third-party cookies on Chrome for industry firms and other companies that hitherto used them in online marketing.

A notable con: “This could result in less effective targeting of ads and difficulty in creating detailed user profiles, potentially reducing ad campaign effectiveness for marketers,” says Price, vice president of marketing at Top 40 distributor AIA Corporation (asi/109480).

Bret Bonnet, president and co-founder of Top 40 distributor Quality Logo Products (QLP, asi/302967), thinks the negative impacts will be minimal but sees some challenges similar to Price.

“Those that rely on third-party cookies to target users might see a decline in their search engine marketing performance,” Bonnet tells ASI Media.

65%
of worldwide traffic on the web occurs on the Chrome browser.(The Wall Street Journal)

Still, he notes, a key point to keep in mind is that first-party cookies will continue to be allowed on Chrome.

First-party cookies are directly stored by the website an internet user visits and stop tracking the user after they leave the site. These cookies allow website owners to collect analytics data, remember language settings, and perform other useful functions that can help provide a good experience for users that have visited the site owner’s website specifically. When used strategically, first-party cookies can help marketers better understand customers/prospects and develop strategies to market to them.

“The ability for third parties to track, target, and sell your browsing history for profit is going to take a hit with the ending of third-party cookies, but a website owner’s ability to cookie, track, and market to their own customers remains unchanged,” Bonnet explains. “This will further enforce the importance of first-party data for conversion analysis, customer lists for targeting, and the need for robust data management/security.”

“The need for clear messaging and a clear position will be more and more important as third-party cookies disappear.” Stacy Price, AIA Corporation (asi/109480)

Indeed, one of the positives that Price foresees is that marketers in promo and beyond will be compelled to fine-tune how they leverage valuable first-party data. That could ultimately help lead to better marketing performance and an improved experience for customers, she says.

Relatedly, advertisers can explore other alternative marketing strategies, such as investing in influencer marketing, utilizing AI-driven advertisements and contextual advertising, which targets ads based on the content of a website, Price states.

Marketers could also, she notes, consider technologies such as Google Topics, a Privacy Sandbox mechanism designed to preserve privacy while allowing a browser to share information with third parties about a user’s interests. It enables interest-based advertising (IBA) without having to resort to tracking the sites a user visits.

“The shift involving third-party cookies will likely require more creativity and result in more engaging marketing,” Price says. “The need for clear messaging and a clear position will be more and more important as third-party cookies disappear.”

Could Promo See a Sales Bump?

With marketers encountering new challenges with the Chrome third-party cookie change, the question arises: Could some of that budget that would have gone to online advertising be diverted to other marketing mediums, like promotional products?

Sure, it’s possible some dollars will migrate to promo, executives tell ASI Media. Nonetheless, they generally think it’s a stretch to believe there’ll be a sizable, industry-wide swell in sales directly because Google is axing third-party cookies.

“Some advertisers,” Price explains, “will lean into promotional products when faced with the decision of how to redirect online advertising, but the mediums serve different purposes: Online advertising offers precision targeting and adaptability with digital tools, while promotional products provide a more tangible, potentially enduring brand presence but with less precise targeting and measurement capabilities.”

Bonnet says: “Will Google’s change result in a shift in advertising dollars to promo? I don’t think so. I do, however, think it will spell the end to some of these pariah-like advertising networks that have been secretly haunting many of us as we browse the web.”

Other industry pros see more potential to capture a greater share of the marketplace’s advertising money.

“As companies see less and less value in current track-and-click-based marketing models, they will have to move to other marketing tactics,” Gergen says. “Consistent visibility to a company’s message has proven to be successful historically, and great promo products that have a high use rate have the best chance to hold a message in clear view of a consumer.”