Why we’re fast losing our appetite for the third-party cookie

Since GDPR came into force on 25 May this year, websites have been required to be more careful about how they use people’s data. As a result, they appear to be losing their appetite for third-party cookies.

Under GDPR, companies must have a lawful basis to use personal data – a change that has had a significant impact on how websites are using cookies.

According to Reuters Institute, the number of third-party cookies on news websites in Europe has dropped by 22%, and in the UK it has dropped by 45%. Their analysis of around 1 million content requests from more than 200 EU news publishers between April and July revealed that the average number of third-party cookies per webpage declined from about 80 in April, to about 60 in July, after GDPR.

Apple started killing off the cookie last summer

GDPR isn’t the only change impacting the use of cookies; they were already going out of favour following Apple’s Safari browser change last summer. The change made tracking users more difficult by deleting third-party cookies after one day.

As a result of this change, 60% of respondents to a September 2017 survey by Viant said they will no longer rely on cookies for the bulk of their digital marketing in the following two years.

What will replace the third-party cookie?

So, if the third-party cookie is off the menu, what can replace it? One robust, future-proof solution is our own ActiveID.

Rather than relying on the limitations of a third party cookie, ActiveID uses multiple data points to identify a user. ActiveID uses ‘probabilistic’ matching, which typically gives 95% match rates – and a much more robust and longer lasting ID than third party cookies.

As a result, ActiveID is not reliant on third party cookies, is fully GDPR and ePR compliant, lasts much longer than a cookie and supports full lifecycle marketing.

So if you’ve lost your appetite for third-party cookies and are looking for a longer-lasting solution, ActiveID could be the answer. To find out more about it, and how it can help you, please call us on 020 3262 0415 or email Jon Weeks.