The end of third-party cookies – what does it mean for you and your business?

Cookies have always been a double-edged sword: useful for logins and shopping carts, but problematic for privacy. Third-party cookies in particular enabled cross-site tracking.

With their phase-out, privacy improves – but tracking will not disappear, it will simply change.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored in the browser. They contain information that websites can read on return visits.

• First-party cookies: set by the website you are visiting.
• Third-party cookies: set by external services such as ad networks.

What changes

For users

• Less personalized advertising
• More privacy
• Core website functionality remains intact

For companies

• Third-party tracking disappears
• First-party data becomes more important
• Marketing strategies become more complex

What replaces third-party cookies?

• Server-side tracking
• First-party data
• Contextual advertising
• Google Privacy Sandbox

Conclusion

The end of third-party cookies benefits privacy while forcing companies to rethink marketing strategies.