The end of third-party cookies
By Amy Osborn Mar 25, 2025
Privacy Matters
It’s no surprise that in infinite expansion of the internet, privacy has become more of a focal point for many users. At the end of the day, third-party cookies are annoying (and I don’t mean the type your grandmother makes, those are delicious). I am referring to the cookies that collect our data, reuse that data and worse yet how those cookies can be utilized by cybercriminals to impersonate users.
For years, third-party cookies have been the backbone of digital marketing, enabling businesses to track user behavior, target ads effectively and optimize dollars in a marketing campaign. Log on to any form of social media and you’ll find an infinite scroll of targeted ads. Click on that ad and the process has begun. You just opted in. And while this might be annoying to you and I as consumers, this was the bread and butter of many marketing campaigns. So you can imagine that when Google announced in 2020 that it intended to ban third party cookies panic ensued amongst marketing and sales professionals, after all this is how sales were built.
By the end of 2024, a cookieless future has begun. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) taking effect, sales and marketing professionals must rethink how they collect and use data. While some may still be panicking, we here at ÆO see this as an opportunity to innovate.
Privacy concerns have pushed tech giants and regulators to take action. Consumers are demanding more control over their data, and governments are enforcing new policies. What does all this mean for your company’s marketing strategy? It means there is a fundamental shift that is about to begin where we must rely on leveraging first-party data and ethical targeting strategies to engage loyal customers.
If you are looking to reach a wider target audience through first-party engagement ÆO is here to help. Our team is knowledgeable in building strong marketing campaigns that leverage engagement through interactive tools and bolster loyalty through direct customer engagement. Go beyond and start today with our team. We’d love to discuss how we can build a strategy that works best for you.