UK digital marketers not fazed by end of cookies

Most UK digital marketing campaigns are now run without the use of third-party cookies, according to a survey by advertising company Criteo which also finds that marketers will be leaning heavily on their partners to navigate the future of addressability. 

Why it matters

When Google announced in June that it was pushing back to late 2023 the date for phasing out third-party cookies, the news will have been a relief to some digital marketers. But the evidence from Criteo’s survey (of 114 UK marketers with spending authority over digital marketing) indicates that most are already well-advanced in developing alternatives and reducing dependence on third-party data.

Key findings 

• Two thirds of marketers report more than half of their digital marketing already runs without any dependence on third-party cookies.
• Three-quarters (75%) say that partners – tech and agency partners as well as publishers – will be key to helping them manage data deprecation. 
• Close to two thirds of respondents (64%) rely on partners at least partly to test alternatives to third-party cookies.
• Top of the list of alternatives is getting the best out of first-party datasets by enriching them using external partners (43%), followed by contextual targeting (40%) and aggregate panel data (39%).
• There’s widespread expectation (79%) that access to first-party data will be crucial to success in digital marketing in the years to come.

Sourced from Criteo