Hard to believe that a term with the words “cookie” and “party” is terrible.  

But third-party cookies are crumbling, and the party is shutting down.  

Google Chrome’s recent announcement to halt using third-party cookies is stopping (should be stopping) B2B marketers in their tracks.

Companies use third-party cookies to track website visitors, improve the user experience, and collect data that helps target ads to the right audiences.

What is a third-party cookie?

Cookies are small text files placed on users’ browsers after they visit a website.

Third-party cookies are set by a website other than the one a user is currently viewing.

Rotten Cookies

Unfortunately, third-party cookies have a dark side.

Cookies threaten users’ privacy and are a security risk to the websites that use them.

Advertisers use third-party cookies to track your purchase behavior and hit you with ads after leaving their site.

Some entities use third-party cookies to falsify the identity of legitimate users. They store authentication data to gain access without users’ knowledge. (I didn’t know this, and now I decline cookies on websites.)

See.

A few culprits spoil it for the rest of us.

The Deal

So what’s the big deal?

The deal got serious late in 2019 when Chrome announced they would phase-out all third-party cookies by 2022.

Google Chrome makes up more than 56% of the web browser market. Chrome also accounts for more than half of all global web traffic. (Statista)

Ouch.

Safari and Firefox have blocked third-party cookies since 2013, but they have a much smaller market share.

Now what?

Here’s the truth.

Google Chrome’s third-party cookie phase-out could impact some areas of your business.

How do you know if you will be affected?

First, examine what applications you use and understand how they are using third-party cookies.

  • Are you using conversational marketing (Drift or Qualified)
  • Do you use an external application for webinars? (On24 or GoToWebinar)
  • Are you using a vendor to put a video on your website?

Make a list and reach out directly to understand how your applications use third-party cookies and if it could affect their services to your business.

What about Account Engagement?

Account Engagement uses third-party cookies to track visitors.

But Account Engagement got to work and now offers several new, robust tracking features to stay in a first-party context:

  • Uses first-party cookies with optional third-party
  • Has expanded multi-tracker support
  • Provides analytics request validation to confirm domain
  • Allows default campaign for tracker domains

 These features are currently in Beta (still could have coding issues) and will be available for your action in upcoming releases.