The Sweet and Crumbly Truth About Digital Tracking
By Jason Taylor, Marketing Strategist
This website uses cookies; would you like to allow all cookies?
Why yes, I would! Who wouldn’t want to indulge in that tantalizing blend of sugar, chocolate, and butter?
At home, cookies are the delicacy of the dinner table. In the digital world, cookies are the foundation of targeted advertising.
When you access a website, your specific identity is tracked. A website targets advertisements specifically at you based on your browsing or interaction history. Cookies come in two main forms: first-party cookies and third-party cookies.
First-Party Cookies: These are directly created by the website you’re interacting with. They are generally considered safer than third-party cookies.
Third-Party Cookies: These track your data from external content within a website, such as advertisements, images, and YouTube videos. They are stored under a different domain than the one you’re visiting (for example, cookies from a YouTube video embedded in a blog).
Why do I bring this up?
Google planned to phase out third-party cookies, which threw the advertising world into a frenzy. It seemed like the first step towards a digital landscape that would dampen the effectiveness of targeted advertising.
That’s because cookies and data are essential in the fundraising world. The ability to understand and reach the proper audience is central to what you do. You rely on rich data through cookies to target potential donors, tailor messaging towards them, and optimize campaigns to increase engagement. Without good data, it is harder to find donors who are passionate about supporting your cause, making fund-raising efforts less effective and more resource intensive.
However, in July 2024, Google announced it no longer plans to phase out third-party cookies. Does this mean there’s no need to worry about a shortage of data for targeted ads? Not so fast.
Other browsers such as Safari and Firefox already have cookie-blocking mechanisms in place.
Apple has minimized third-party cookies in Safari with a program called Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP). This is no small matter, given that Apple controls 20% of the browsing market. Firefox, which controls 3% of the market, also blocks third-party cookies. This means nearly 1/4 of searches can’t be tracked, a significant step toward private browsing.
Additionally, the rise of website opt-out messaging pushes consumers to eliminate cookies altogether. Less cookies means less data, which makes targeted advertising more challenging.
Still, Google controls two-thirds of the browsing market and has plans to eventually phase out cookies
The Road Ahead for Fundraising
The potential elimination of cookies has massive implications for the non-profit industry, where abundant data makes everyone’s lives easier. Decreased access to data complicates targeting efforts, putting cookie-less solutions at the forefront of our strategies.
While cookies may not disappear overnight, we must prepare for a cookie-less world. Staying ahead of future changes ensures that you continue to thrive even as the digital landscape evolves.
In a future article, we will explore in more detail what cookie-less solutions look like in the digital world and how we can plan for a future devoid of their sugary goodness.
