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By June 2023, 62% of Internet users were using Google Chrome, according to SimilarWeb's digital ranking1. From 2024, Google's browser will put an end to the use of third-party cookies, seven years after Safari and six years after Firefox. For nearly 65% of French companies responding to a OnePoll survey, this decision is a positive one. In fact, 86% said they had anticipated this change in their advertising strategy.2. Nevertheless, the end of third-party cookies sounds the death knell for the unification of customer data, and AI is emerging as a solution to help companies palliate this digital transformation.
How important are third-party cookies on the Internet?
Third-party cookies are a key element in customer data collection for companies. In fact, they make it possible to gather a significant amount of information about Internet users, even when they visit a site other than that of the company collecting the information. In fact, their regulation and imminent disappearance has a considerable impact on advertisers.
Since April 2021, for example, the introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe has led to a reduction in website traffic of almost 15%3. Among other things, the GDPR requires them to obtain user consent for the use of third-party cookies. Nevertheless, this drop in traffic is not surprising. Some 40% of Europeans are in fact concerned about the way companies use their data on the internet, according to a report by Statista4. The imminent disappearance of third-party cookies augurs further changes for companies and their digital advertising strategies.
Why are third-party cookies important for digital advertising?
The CNIL details that third-party cookies "are mainly used to allow [third-party companies] to see which pages have been visited on [a site] by a user and to collect information about him, in particular for advertising purposes."5. Third-party cookies make it possible to collect data on web users via sites other than that of the company using the information. They thus contribute to the growth of contextual commerce, which precisely targets users to offer them the most relevant advertising content according to their preferences and browsing habits. Third-party cookies also enable companies to unify user data and simplify their analysis of customer profiles.
With their disappearance in 2024, the information collected on Internet users will be split between each company. In this way, sites will no longer be able to rely on other platforms to collect as much information as possible about their users. This will alter the precision with which they define their users' profiles, and the relevance of the advertising they can offer them. For some companies, this change represents a major challenge.6.
In 2022, retail media represented 887 million euros in France, with growth of 30%.
On the contrary, the end of third-party cookies represents an unprecedented opportunity for others. This is particularly the case for e-tailers and retailers, whose data is collected on web users as close as possible to the act of purchasing. This is why retail media is actively developing on their platforms. This new market is growing by 30% year-on-year, and will represent 887 million euros in 2022 in France.7. At Mealz, we've jumped on the digital bandwagon, offering food brands the chance to showcase their products and demonstrate their culinary credentials with an innovative new format.
How can AI become an asset in the face of the end of third-party cookies?
To compensate for the disappearance of third-party cookies, companies will have to rely on technical innovations, particularly artificial intelligence.
Targeting customers and prospects
The disappearance of third-party cookies will hamper the ability of many companies to profile their customers and prospects. Contextual advertising requires an extremely detailed understanding of user behavior on the Internet. However, the impressive analytical capabilities of AI can help advertisers better target the recipients of their advertising recommendations based on their browsing data. In particular, AI can precisely define users' demographic profiles, determine which type of customer leads to the highest conversion and engagement rates, and so on.8 and the most relevant advertising content for them. Clarisse Madern, director of Seedtag France, explained in an article for Minted: "[the AI is capable of] examining all the URLs of published articles and developing a detailed understanding of the network as a whole. An understanding that [enables it] to identify trends and key content topics with which audiences are interacting at any given moment."9.
Personalizing the customer experience
If AI accurately analyzes advertisers' customer and prospect data, it can also personalize the customer experience. To do this, companies can rely on "zero-party" data, i.e. data collected directly from their website. This information includes users' searches on the site, customer reviews, surveys, their reaction to recommendations, as well as their notification settings.10. Because AI is able to detect data that other technologies fail to notice, it can precisely define user profiles and create personalized paths on websites.
Nevertheless, its contribution to improving the customer experience can be further enriched with generative AI. Indeed, the November 2022 release of ChatGPT by Open AI has encouraged several companies to adopt this technology. These include Lazada in Southeast Asia and Carrefour in France, who have integrated ChatGPT into their e-commerce platforms. These chatbots accompany customers through their purchasing journey, advising them and offering personalized content based on their preferences and buying habits.
Sales forecast
AI's analytical skills can also be put to good use in sales forecasting. Indeed, multiple data sources such as CRM, ERP, analytics, market data and social media, can be processed simultaneously by AI. In this way, this technology generates a holistic and highly accurate assessment of a company's sales data. In a collaborative article by SalesGrowth, several experts add that "AI can rely on complex and customized models, such as artificial neural networks, regression, classification, but also take into account several factors such as seasonality, product association, customer segments and sales cycles. Likewise, AI can update forecasts in real time, based on the latest data and feedback, to reflect changing market conditions and customer behavior."11. Finally, AI can contribute to the implementation of a sales strategy, identifying KPIs and sales channels relevant to companies.
Will the end of third-party cookies benefit users?
Norton's annual Cyber Security Report 2022 shows that 80% of the world's population is concerned about data protection on the Internet. Nearly 70% of them are even more concerned than before.12. While the GDPR strives to protect Internet users' information in Europe, few regions of the world have similar regulations. Indeed, the end of third-party cookies could be a reassuring measure for users.
However, in an article for The Conversation, Professor Carlos Raúl Sánchez Sánchez of the Montpellier Business School notes that this change pits two important elements against each other. On the one hand, Internet users' need for control over the disclosure of and access to their personal information. On the other, the need for advertisers to rely on new tools to target their customers and prospects, sometimes more invasive with regard to user data.13. "For the time being, most of the solutions proposed on the market to replace cookies have a commercial objective in mind... and much less to meet users' real expectations", he details. Paradoxically, banning third-party cookies may not improve data protection for Internet users. Moreover, the CNIL specifies that "the development of alternative techniques to third-party cookies "must not be at the expense of people's right to protection of their personal data and privacy".14.
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