Cookies are Here to Stay: What It Means for Marketers and Why Zeta Remains a Step Ahead

By Neej Gore, Chief Data Officer. Last week, in a predictable move with surprising timing, Google’s Privacy Sandbox Vice President Anthony Chavez announced that Chrome will no longer phase out third-party cookies. Google had piloted cookie deprecation for 1% of Chrome users in January but has postponed the plan twice since.

“In light of this, we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice,” Chavez wrote. “Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.”

The announcement was light on details, but the shift means that third-party cookies will remain a central part of the online advertising ecosystem for the foreseeable future.

What Keeping Third-Party Cookies Means for Marketers

For now, marketers can continue using their existing strategies for tracking and targeting users. However, the broader trend towards privacy-first policies isn’t going away. Competitors like Firefox and Safari have already disabled third-party cookies, and consumer choices on Chrome will gradually reduce cookie reliance. Marketers need to stay adaptable to remain competitive.

Even with third-party cookies still in play, first and second-party data collection remains crucial. Data collected with consent and directly from customers will continue to be increasingly valuable. Marketers should refine their data collection and campaign strategies to make better use of this data to guard against future cookie changes. Additionally, marketers should look for ecosystem partners that offer high-fidelity deterministic and probabilistic addressability solutions to supplement first-party data.

Maintaining audience addressability will be essential. Enhanced identity frameworks that provide targeting and measurement for authenticated and unauthenticated visitors alongside models like Data-Driven Attribution and Conversion APIs will also play a critical role moving forward.

A Focused Future-Ready Strategy

While Google’s decision may have alleviated immediate pressure, the future of digital marketing is heading towards a privacy-first model. Zeta’s closed-loop, people-based measurement approach delivers the industry’s highest ROI and helps marketers maintain high-fidelity addressability and measurement, whether cookies remain or not.

How Zeta is Helping Marketers Stay Ahead

• Super Graph: Zeta’s proprietary identity resolution engine resolves over 40% of anonymous web traffic into persistent, deterministic Zeta IDs, providing high-fidelity addressability for audiences, targeting, and measurement. It combines Zeta’s consented data assets with key industry partners to reach more than 240 million U.S. adults.
• Integrated identity resolution: Zeta integrates identity resolution into every aspect of the platform, creating maximum durability, redundancy, precision, and scale, with 80% of sources derived from Zeta’s technology assets.
• Addressability on a spectrum: Different use cases require differing levels of scale, precision, and addressability. Zeta’s proprietary assets and federated partners unlock industry-leading addressability across the spectrum, from probabilistic to deterministic needs.
• Enhanced Intender Audiences: Zeta is improving its proprietary Intender Audiences with Generative AI-enabled updates for more granular scoring and sentiment analysis, allowing for more precise targeting and engagement to boost ROI.

Looking Ahead

Google’s recent announcement shows that nothing is certain, and staying ahead requires more than just reacting to changes; it means anticipating them and being prepared with the right tools and strategies. With Zeta’s expertise and technology, marketers can confidently move forward and remain competitive in a privacy-focused world.