Everything You Want To Know About Cookies But Are Too Afraid To Ask

The digital world is transitioning towards a cookieless future, leaving professionals with burning questions about the new advertising technologies replacing third-party cookies. There’s no need to worry. El Toro can answer everything you want and need to know about the cookieless future.

What are cookies?

Cookies, also known as web cookies, internet cookies, browser cookies, and tracking cookies, are small pieces of data stored within a user’s web browser on any device that a website can retrieve at any time.

How are cookies used?

Different cookies are used for different reasons. First-party cookies are used to remember actions to remove the complexity of a website to provide a good user experience. These cookies retain login credentials, remember language preferences, and collect analytical data. 

Third-party cookies are placed by websites other than the one you are visiting. This allows companies to track users between websites to display relevant ads. Digital marketers specifically use third-party cookies to create a cookie profile with assumptions all based on browsing activity, past purchases, and preferences gathered from your browsing history.

Are there different types of cookies?

Yes, there are six different types of cookies: temporary cookies, permanent cookies, first-party cookies, third-party cookies, flash cookies, and zombie cookies. It would be best to watch out for all cookies, but especially third-party cookies. 

Third-parties install third-party cookies with the intent to collect data and information from web users. These cookies allow companies to understand a user’s behavior, demographics, spending habits, and much more. Bad for consumers but great for marketers, right? However, cookies have many limitations and shortcomings.

Are all cookies bad?

Cookies are good for particular purposes but not for advertising. For example, first-party cookies can track what pages a user visits on your website, helping you understand the operation of your website. Cookies as tech is a great idea; the problem started when advertisers couldn’t find a way to reach consumers online, so they started using third-party cookies. That’s what caused the broken system today in the advertising world.

What are the limitations of using cookies?

Third-party cookies lack transparency, traceability, and accuracy. Cookie fraud caused by bots interacting with digital ads has led to a low consumer identity match rate of 40% to 60%, ultimately falsifying CTR rates. Research suggests that web browsers either delete or block more than half of all tracking cookies. Because of this, companies can be throwing away a majority of their advertising spend on missed opportunities and unnecessary impressions.

Why is the world becoming cookieless?

Third-party cookies can get it all wrong, especially when generating cookie-based profiles. They use metrics that are invasive and inaccurate tools for measurement. As we know, the ability of advertising to generate leads and convert audiences is more critical than ever in today’s market. Measurements like CTR rates and cookie-based profiles as a benchmark in digital advertising are just no longer acceptable.

What will replace cookies?

With our advertising technology, El Toro has and will continue to eat away at the cookie. Our products are 100% cookie-free and connect with real people with unparalleled accuracy, eliminating ad fraud from marketing efforts. We don’t create customer profiles based on clicks or website activity. Instead, we track human behavior in real-time through mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) to build robust customer profiles. This allows us to serve the right messages directly to the user’s household devices with a 95% confidence level. 

To make it even better, El Toro provides real data-driven insights into the effectiveness of your campaign without using UTM codes, conversion pixels, retargeting, or call tracking. Our game-changing MatchBack Analysis can provide actual one-to-one conversions proving a true Return on Investment (ROI).

How can I prepare for a cookieless world?

Don’t follow the herd. Ditch the outdated cookies. El Toro has relied on cookieless targeting from day one, and so can you. Connect with and engage your audience at the household level in real-time on their TV, laptop, smartphone, and tablet devices. By leading with the household in your digital marketing strategies, you get to a more empowered, validated, and permanent approach to identifying and engaging your audience. Use the premier choice of digital advertising, El Toro.

To learn more about how El Toro’s revolutionary and patented advertising technology can help you thrive without third-party cookies, reach out to our team today.

Did you miss our Cookieless World webinar? Check it out here.