Three’s a crowd, and I’m not referring to failed 80s sitcoms. I’m talking about customer relationships.
Yet according to a study by the UC Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, 85% of the top 1,000 websites have cookies set by a third party.
Propelled by widespread anonymity in the early days of the Internet, third-party cookies have undoubtedly become a staple for many marketers, tracking consumer behaviors across the web with the promise of uncovering invaluable insights.
Not only is this an invasion of consumer privacy (more on that later), but it also prevents businesses from truly knowing and understanding their customers.
First-party data, transparently collected via voluntary user registration, on-site activities and interactions, removes data brokers as middlemen, establishing direct brand and consumer connections and fostering 1:1 relationships.
Let’s take a look at three ways that third-party cookies are hurting your customer relationships, and how first-party data can be collected and used to improve audience understanding and user experiences.