Does the cookie have (no) future?

Since the regulations for tracking users have been drastically tightened within the framework of the DSGVO and the E-Privacy Regulation, the spectre of the demise of the entire industry has been haunting online marketing.

Downright existence-threatening scenarios are being spun - which will certainly apply to some providers of tracking solutions.

Difficult environment for tracking

Retargeting specialist Criteo, for example, which implements personalized advertising campaigns for online shops, had to revise its revenue forecasts downwards back in 2017 after Apple introduced ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) for its Safari browser.

However, the all-clear can also be given in some places: The percentage of users who actively object to cookies being set is vanishingly small. Most users refrain from extensive reading and editing of the setting options listed in the cookie banners. Only about 29% of users no longer allow cookies to be set, according to the "Cookie Rejection Report" by adtech provider "Flashtalking".

Bigger problems due to anti-tracking measures

A much bigger problem for the online marketing industry, on the other hand, are the initiatives of browser manufacturers or ad blockers, which increasingly restrict or even prevent the usability of cookies in desktop browsers and mobile devices. Apple, for example, has developed effective mechanisms with "Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP)" and the browser manufacturer Firefox with "Anti-Tracking".

Other browser manufacturers will probably follow this example or generally prevent the setting of tracking cookies. Also, coockies could simply be deleted by the browser after the user session.

Even against the more or less newly developed alternatives to cookie tracking, guns are being brought out. For example, Apple is trying to prevent so-called fingerprinting, in which a digital fingerprint of the user is generated on the basis of browser and device information, by making the browser give out very little information.

Problems with the calculation of the data

It is not only a possible complete rejection of all tracking methods by users and software providers that poses a problem for online marketing. Already now, the 29 percent of those users who generally prevent cookies from being set lead to considerable inaccuracies in the calculation of visitor numbers and conversion funnels.

For example, research shows that the reach of campaigns today is regularly overstated, while calculations of how often a user sees the ad are understated.

This is due to an interruption in tracking. If the customer journey is not interrupted, the path between product search, ad placement and conversion is clearly traceable.

However, if the user searches for the same product several times and uses several computers or mobile phones, the tracking data indicates that several users have seen the ad placed. This increases the reach of the campaign in question because the ads are supposedly seen by more users.

However, this effect may in reality mean that the same user has simply seen the ad much more often. Without reliable tracking, this shortcoming can hardly be remedied.

Bottom line: the cookie is still there and working. However, more and more unreliable. Alternatives are needed and are also in development to allow marketers to continue to work.

Find out, which alternative developments to cookie tracking exist and how their future prospects are to be assessed: Alternatives to the Cookie.