The third-party cookie is crumbling, and it’s not clear what will replace the web browsing technology.

The third-party cookie, user information saved on a web browser when visiting a website, is undergoing a significant transformation. Escalating privacy concerns and a major change in data collection by Google LLC’s widely used Chrome web browser are threatening marketers’ primary digital marketing tool.

Ironically, the programmers at Netscape who invented the cookie in the early 1990s envisioned it as a way to actually prevent third parties from tracking users’ browser activity. However, advertisers soon found a way to hack the technology and follow people around the internet.

Third-party cookies fueled the massive growth of digital advertising revenue over the past 20+ years. They also raised concerns among consumer and privacy advocates that companies were tracking users on the web without consent.

Safari and Firefox have been blocking third-party cookies for years. In January 2020, Google LLC announced that it would phase out the use of cookies in its popular Chrome web browser over a two-year period. This sent shockwaves through the marketing community because Google dominates the digital advertising market, with a 28.9% share of U.S. ad sales in 2020 alone.

“Today, more than 30 different proposals have been offered by Chrome and others, including many that we believe are key to rendering third-party cookies obsolete,” said Justin Schuh, former engineering director on Chrome Security and Privacy at Google, in a blog post earlier this year. “Early test results are also looking promising.”

The changing landscape of advertising on the open internet, its consequences, and industry-proposed solutions and strategies will be the focus of “The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success,” a broadcast of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, in partnership with Quantcast Inc., on May 19 starting at 9 a.m. PDT. Additional showings are on May 19 at 3 p.m. BST/4 p.m. CET for the European audience and on May 20 at 11 a.m. AEST/9 a.m. SGT to reach APAC folks. Speakers will include Konrad Feldman, founder and chief executive officer of Quantcast; Peter Day, chief technology officer of Quantcast; Christopher Guenther, senior vice president and global head of programmatic at News Corp.; Xiao Lin, managing director of solutions at Xaxis LLC; and Shiv Gupta, founder of U of Digital. (* Disclosure below.)

Cohort-based approach

Google’s central proposal is to replace third-party cookies with a new system called FLoC, or Federated Learning of Cohorts. The concept is to allow advertisers to still target their ads without needing to track the browsing behavior of specific users. Instead, people will be grouped by common interest, such as cooking, essentially “hiding” them in a crowd of like-minded users.

The imminent demise of the cookie from its present state has raised questions around what will follow in its wake. A growing number of firms, such as Quantcast, believe the solution lies in leveraging an intelligent audience platform powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning to allow agencies, brands and publishers to know and grow audiences on the open internet.

In March, Quantcast launched the Quantcast Platform, which draws on data from over 100 million online destinations. With consumer privacy and consent baked-in, Quantcast believes its platform will allow advertisers to break away from the “walled gardens” of large industry players.

“Right now, there are a lot of challenges in the ad tech industry,” said Quantcast CTO Peter Day, in a recent interview. “With privacy regulations, the phasing out of third-party cookies, and the increasing power of walled gardens, the idea of free press has fundamentally been put at risk and the industry is at a crossroads. Quantcast is a champion of a free and open internet, and we believe publishers can fund quality content through advertising when they have the right tools and information to know and grow their audiences.”

Livestream of The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success event

The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success is a livestream event, with interviews to be broadcasted on theCUBE. You can register for free here to access the live event. Plus, you can watch theCUBE interviews here on demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE during The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success include Shiv Gupta, founder of U of Digital; Chris Guenther, senior vice president and global head of programmatic at News Corp.; and Xiao Lin, managing director of solutions at Xaxis LLC.

TheCUBE will also speak with Quantcast’s Konrad Feldman, founder and chief executive officer; Peter Day, chief technology officer; Somer Simpson, vice president of product; and Shruti Koparkar, head of product marketing.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for The Cookie Conundrum: A Recipe for Success event. Neither Quantcast Corp., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE