Bot’s going on? As third party cookies crumble, content could rise
Bots, spiders and big data have been personalising our online content experiences for more than a decade by using one very old school piece of technology … the cookie (that’s a data file that tracks the websites we visit and the purchases we make online, not the delicious chocolate chip kind).
Most of us are blissfully unaware that when we visit news publishing websites, those publishers drop a cookie on our profile and follow us as we look at shopping websites, real estate sites or banks and build a ‘profile’ which the publisher can then use to retarget us with higher value ads.
As technology changes, so will consumer awareness of privacy and how their time and attention is being monetised online …
These cookies may enable personalised online experiences like suggested content recommendations, remembering logins and even offering special deals to us.
The humble cookie - which most of us barely understand, let alone realise what it’s done to our ability to read trusted content - has been at the heart of personalisation, advertising and marketing technology for decades - but Apple, Google and Mozilla Firefox have ganged up on it.
The cookie is going bye-bye. And privacy is becoming the ‘new black’, which will prompt a change in the way audiences are built online.
Most mainstream publishers have been using cookies to target readers who barely understand what these files do, let alone how they have helped destroy the economic models that have allowed quality content to remain commercially viable
Good riddance to bad privacy compliance
In my opinion, the end of the third party cookie will cause chaos - and potentially further media consolidation - but will ultimately be a good thing for content strategists, designers and creators who truly understand how to build trust and move people to action.
The rude awakening for consumers is that publishers - and other entertainment websites - have potentially been exploiting their readers’ data to try to stop ad revenue falling even further, dropping cookies here and there for ever-lower advertising revenue sold through auction platforms and other advertising tech that treats one ‘car buyer’ the same as another ‘car buyer’ just because of some 1990s cookie file that’s been dropped on a user’s browsing profile.
After all, half the reason most media websites have been axing content creators is because premium ad dollars have been destroyed by third party cookies commoditising advertising CPM rates down, down, down to the point where advertising revenue cannot support original content creation.
Many great creatives have left the industry and the internet is awash with appalling content creators, wasting our time and attention with bad words, crap design and vapid videos. Unintentionally, this has allowed the rise of misinformation, echo chambers and even discriminatory targeting online.
Now that Google, Apple and Mozilla have signalled the end of cookies, what will that mean for content online? It could probably end up behind paywalls …
Will quality content end up being ‘subscriber only’?
Technology platforms will be in a battle over the data market to see who can hoover up valuable advertising segments the fastest while publishers and those who need to PAY creators will most likely be forced to rely on subscriber-models to keep funding quality content.
There will be some uncertainty as publishers work out where future revenue will come from. Some may discover that quality content that meets the need of its audiences will make people subscribe (after all, when I published magazines our cover price revenue was just as important as our ad revenue).
So what does this mean for publishers, brands and people who won’t pay for content? Well, that remains to be seen …
My great hope is that smart brands and publishers will remember there is premium value in creating useful, helpful and TRUSTED content. And that means it’s more vital than ever that quality creators don’t leave the industry during this period of turmoil.
Quality content is not yet made by bots but by creative strategy
Artificial intelligence and personalisation is never going away - it’s now a vital tool across content eco-systems. But so is content strategy.
Words, graphics and video that make people feel, think or act on something is more important than ever. We are very likely about to experience the most disruptive decade of change following COVID and climate inaction … we need quality content more than ever.
I have my fingers crossed that content creation that does more than convert people to a sale will rise out of the third party cookie crumbs.
Like most things to do with technology, this third party cookie issue is complex. And the search, social media and other algorithms powering how we experience, read and encounter content are ALSO complex. So complex that it’s hard to break it all down.
Tech changes are now forever linked to storytelling and content
It’s been happening for decades, but the mass communication, content and publishing is now inextricably linked with the products and technology updates that big global tech platforms decide upon. Our dependence on technology has created complex ecosystems and interdependence that makes everything more volatile and unpredictable than ever before.
You see, Apple is using their third party cookie move to build a reputation as a ‘privacy first’ brand, however Apple’s decision means that the entire framework which many small businesses use to buy Facebook ads is also disrupted. (Oh, and Facebook are yelling loudly about it).
That means Apple’s change to third party cookies not only impacts those who use Safari or iPhones, but also the advertisers and businesses using Facebook. Facebook is also screaming that Apple’s third party cookie changes will:
Force more iOS users to “opt out of tracking”, thus limiting the web conversion and app conversion events that enable Facebook advertising to be cost-effective
Prompt businesses to change their technology, reporting and privacy practices if they want to continue advertising.
The big gun - Google - has announced new technology that some experts are warning will entrench it as the world’s most powerful data miner. Oh, and incidentally, Google could then have even greater advertising monopolies than it enjoys today.