Understanding Mobile Social Advertising Data Gathering and Cookie Changes

Consumers leave a digital data trail in their wake as they navigate their way through the internet, or in some cases carry their digital trail markers with them in the form of cookies. These cookies are vital tools for digital marketers and the businesses they help. What will become of digital marketing in a world where aggressive data privacy laws make gathering customer data difficult or even impossible?

The simple answer is an increased reliance on pre-existing alternatives and the development of newer tracking and targeting technologies.

The Ban on Cross-App Tracking

Cross-app tracking was a powerful tool for advertisers over the past decade. Google recently banned Android cross-app tracking, and Apple forced developers to make IDFA identifier tracking opt-in for app users.

While Google Chrome hasn’t officially put a knife in the back of cookies as of April 2022, it is planning on making third-party cookies extinct in 2024.

Users have made themselves heard – ad relevance is less important to them than their privacy – and big tech companies really want to be viewed as the “good guys” in this fight.

That leaves advertisers, the businesses that made companies like Google and Facebook absurdly profitable, in a tough spot. What is undeniable is there’s no viable alternative to Google search or Facebook advertising – at least not yet, so the only option is to adapt.

The Rise of First-Party Data

Every company gathers data on their customers. Some are better at it than others, and some service providers and retailers have more organic opportunities to gather relevant data than businesses in other industries.

Data collected directly from customers is what’s known as first-party data. The richness and value of this proprietary data is dependent on how good a company is at tracking and documenting customer behaviors.

Paying Users for Their Data

Some first-party data harvesters are taking a novel approach to changing rules about cookies and privacy restrictions – they are paying users to share their data.

Nothing is truly free, including all the social media platforms and tools you use on the internet. The users of these platforms are the product, and advertisers are paying for access to you.

Privacy laws are increasing the value of your information, and some data gatherers are preparing to make it more rewarding for consumers to voluntarily give over their data.

What About Second- and Third-Party Data?

If you were bothered by cookies, you’ll be really bothered by the currently available alternatives – second-party and third-party data.

You know that company you “trust” enough to be a paying customer? They may be selling your data to another company so the other company can target you with ads.

This second-party data is valuable because it can be sourced from relevant local businesses and industry partners. If company A and company B do different things but have a lot of customer overlap, company B could probably make a lot of sales by targeting company A’s customers with ads. Company A can sell company B their first-party data, which then becomes second-party data.

Third-party data is demographic and targeting data collected by an independent, outside source. In many cases, third-party data is aggregated from many sources and sold to advertisers.

Third-party data isn’t new. Businesses have been using it since before digital marketing was a thing. Advertisers who are losing their cookies are likely to rely more on third-party data sources in the coming years. Businesses and marketers won’t stop trying to target consumers with relevant ads, but rule changes will change where and how that data is gathered and customers are reached.

Anonymized Data

One of the great things about search advertising and SEO is it doesn’t require invasive data gathering or privacy-harming marketing practices. Search volume is essentially anonymized.

You don’t need to know who is searching for personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, just that there are thousands of people searching for personal injury lawyers in Atlanta. You can write content, build landing pages and run ad campaigns tailored to appeal to those searchers.

Businesses seeking to meet the immediate needs of customers don’t necessarily need to know who those customers are. Advertisers just need to know where and how prospective leads will be looking for a solution.

Building campaigns based on search volume and terms doesn’t violate anyone’s privacy, and it will likely remain a viable avenue for serving ads to potential clients for a long time to come.

What Can Your Business Do to Avoid the Cookie-Destruction Fallout?

If your digital marketing firm relies primarily on providing SEO and paid ad services to clients, the main challenge posed by these changes will be related to lead attribution and tracking. From a functionality standpoint, nothing will really change since these digital marketing tools aren’t reliant on cookies.

There are things your business can do if you’re worried about these changes. Collect your own first-party data and talk to your digital marketers about alternative targeting methods. Any business with an app or online store can still gather first-party data.

If you want to know how your business’s advertising could be affected by changes to social media advertising, contact the team at REV77 . We would be happy to discuss the changes and how your business can adapt.