Discover what the future will be like without cookies in digital marketing and what new alternatives could be efficient

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As the digital age progresses, more and more data is generated and collected in Digital Marketing . Users leave a trail as they browse the Internet, every time they click on a link or access a page. So imagine the volume of data that exists in the big data universe .

The data that websites collect from users is called cookies and helps brands better understand the profile of those who visit their site and improve the browsing experience.

The problem is that the collection and use of this data has been questioned ios database within the scope of user privacy.

The topic is so hot that Google Chrome, the most used browser in the world, announced the end of third-party cookies .

This measure contributes to the protection of personal data , but at the same time affects Digital Marketing strategies that in recent years have been based on browser cookies.

So, it's time to ask: what will the future look like without cookies in Digital Marketing? How should companies prepare to work without this data in their strategies? It's a huge transformation for a market that has become accustomed to accessing this type of information.

In this post we will better understand what cookies are and how these changes could affect your business.

Keep reading!

What are cookies?
Differences between first and third-party cookies
Why are cookies so important?
Why are cookies going to run out?
What does the end of cookies mean?
What are the best alternatives to replace cookies?
How to face a future without cookies?
What are cookies?
Cookies are text files that a website sends to the browser when a user visits, to store important data that helps improve the user's browsing experience. They are used on most websites and are part of Internet usage today.

Cookies store the user's access history to pages and applications, as well as their interactions (clicks, forms, passwords, etc.), for a specific period of time.

In this way, every time the user returns to the website that sent the cookies, the browser returns the data, so that the pages load faster, already with the visitor's preferences and previous data.

This allows, for example, the site to keep you logged in or remember items a user left in the shopping cart.

In this way, in addition to optimizing visits to the website, cookies also serve to improve Digital Marketing strategies by personalizing the experience and aligning content to the interests and behavior of each user.

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Differences between first and third-party cookies
To understand what cookies are and why this topic is so popular lately, it is also important to know the differences between first-party and third-party cookies.

Both types of cookies work technically in the same way. They are data collected by the website and sent to the browser, containing the browsing history and interactions of each user.

The difference between first-party and third-party cookies is how they are collected and what they are used for.

First-party cookies are created by the website you are visiting. They collect data such as language preferences and payment method, form information such as username and password, products stored in the cart, and more.

Third-party cookies are created by a domain other than the one you are visiting. They are generally used for advertising and marketing purposes, as they allow:

Monitor user navigation between different sites (cross-site tracking).
Target retargeting ads based on past behavior.
Publish ads on different sites in an optimized way (ad serving).
The current controversy is third-party cookies, which have already been discontinued in some browsers and now also in Google Chrome. First-party cookies are compatible with all browsers, although users can disable them in the browser settings.

Why are cookies so important?
Cookies can be used for a variety of purposes. Despite the controversy over user data privacy, cookies are not the enemy of users. The problem is how they are used, but we will discuss this later.

For now, let's understand the uses of cookies that make them so important on the Internet and in Digital Marketing.

Cookies are generally used to optimize the user experience on the Internet and improve the content and advertising they receive, according to their interests.

Next, to better understand how this happens, we will discuss the types of cookies that a website may collect.

Strictly necessary cookies
These are technical cookies, essential for the operation of the website. Without them, the user cannot even access the services and resources offered by the websites. They are not used for advertising and communication, they are used, for example, to:

Identify that the user is logged into an account on the website.
Remember information previously entered into website forms.
Ensure user security during authentication.
Functional cookies
Functional or feature cookies are important to provide a more personalized experience on the website, based on the settings you have defined. They serve, for example, to:

remember your language preferences, text size, layout, etc.
Remember whether the user has already responded whether they want to take a survey or not.
Performance Cookies
Performance or measurement cookies are used to collect data on website traffic and visitor profiles. This is data that is captured by Google Analytics , for example, to understand how users use the site, which pages they visit, which links they click on, among other actions.

It is important to know that performance cookies do not identify users individually.

The site administrator can only know how many people visited a page, but is not specifically informed about who visited a page and clicked on an option.

Performance cookies are therefore important for brands that want to:

analyze digital marketing and website performance metrics .
Get to know your audience better to improve brand strategies.
Check the communication efficiency of the website.
Identify flaws in pages to optimize user experience.
Targeting Cookies
Targeting cookies are used to run advertising campaigns. Based on browsing data and user behavior, they are used to:

Segment a more precise target audience for online advertising campaigns.
Offer advertisements aligned with the user's profile and interests.
Users can also disable these types of cookies, but they will not stop seeing ads on websites. The only difference is that they will start seeing ads unrelated to their browsing profile.

Why are cookies going to run out?
When you visit a website, you may have seen a notice like this: