‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's '‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn':

The tech giant’s shock reversal has been met with a mix of relief and frustration from adland, with questions over its ‘new path’ of user choice. PMW spoke to 10 experts to discuss the implications on publishers, adtech vendors and the wider industry.

Last night in a major shift, Google decided to scrap its four-year effort to eliminate cookies from its Chrome browser, following numerous delays and opposition from the advertising industry. In a blog post, Google announced that it doesn’t intend to deprecate third party cookies. Instead, it suggests offering users a choice between third-party cookies and other tech, such as Privacy Sandbox, in its browser.

The move to keep cookies comes after several setbacks, with both digital advertisers and regulators expressing concerns about Google's proposed replacements. PMW spoke to a panel of marketing leaders to ascertain how the sudden u-turn will impact marketers plans going into the golden quarter.

“Contextual targeting and first-party data have been proven more effective”

David Nelson, Co Founder and CEO Limelight Inc., said: “Despite not deprecating third-party cookies, Google continues to develop new privacy-focused technologies, such as Privacy Sandbox, so we will still see a shift towards more transparent and user-centric practices. The announcement doesn’t come as a massive surprise after the third delay, and users will still have the choice to give consent.

“At the same time, contextual targeting and first-party data have been proven more effective and one option is to combine the two, but users will value brands who respect their privacy, rather than use their data. SMEs will likely be relieved by the news, and while enterprise investment in privacy-first solutions will inevitably raise some concerns internally, it will still be justified as the industry moves towards more transparent, privacy-oriented processes.

This move shows once again how Google dictates the rules of ad tech, and that we should move towards acting independently from Google as much as possible.”

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