Fly on the wall

Earlier in 2020, Google announced its plans to phase out the use of tracking cookies, which other companies use to track users online. The change will affect Google Chrome and will be implemented within 2 years. Here we discuss the potential impact for clients.

What are Tracking Cookies, really?

To better understand Tracking Cookies, we first need to understand what Cookies are. A cookie is a small text file that is used to store various user related data. For example, when you log in to a website and tick the checkbox to keep yourself logged in for future visits, your browser will store a cookie on your local drive that the website can later interact with to know your preferences. This allows say, an advertiser, to display more personalised ads, tailored towards the target group and increase their conversion rates. However, tracking cookies often take things a step further. Some tracking cookies will follow you all across the Internet and relay your personal information and data back to a website when you revisit it. This is commonly used for retargeted advertising purposes. For example, if a website is running ads served by Google, your activity on that website may carry over with you to an entirely different one that is also displaying Google Ads.

Are Tracking Cookies bad?

This is open for debate and forms very much a bone of contention over privacy issues. They are a specialised type of cookie that can be shared by more than one website or service. They are commonly used for legitimate marketing and advertising purposes, but because they contain a history of users’ actions on multiple sites, they can be left open to exploitation or misused to track users’ behavior. Essentially, they weren’t designed to be bad, but can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

What does it mean to your business?

If you rely on the web for your business, please ensure your technology vendors engage in the changeover process. Users are demanding greater privacy - including transparency, choice and control over how their data is used - and it's clear the web ecosystem must evolve to meet these increasing demands. It's a good time to revise the technology that you use to run PPC ads or how you track your website traffic, as well as how you handle data privacy.

Our approach

Fly keeps abreast of changing trends that can affect your online experience. As well as important privacy and security measures to protect your business, your staff and your customers, we adapt and refine our technology to combat threats to your business. Get in touch with us if you’d like to know more about this subject.

Mateusz is head of Digital Development at Fly Agency, while developing digital platforms for clients, he is constantly looking out for the latest technology trends.