The marketing landscape just got another major shakeup! Here's a breakdown of three recent developments that could impact your tactics this year:

1. Google’s Third-Party Cookie Delay (Again!)

Remember the 3rd party cookie phase-out Google has promised for years? Google just announced yet another delay, pushing it out to potentially 2025. Although Google aggressively began the phase out of these cookies in Chrome very early on in January and was expected to be fully complete before the year end, it has now announced Originally slated for 2024, the deprecation has been pushed back, potentially until 2025, although Google has not provided a specific deadline.

The silver lining? Retargeting, a tactic heavily reliant on cookies (especially in the Google ad network), remains viable for a little while longer. To better prepare for when this officially does go into effect, check out our webinar on how to evolve your retargeting strategies without 3rd party cookies.

2. Google Chrome IP Masking

Ad targeting just got even more limited. Google Chrome's new IP masking feature will use a two-hop proxy, essentially hiding user identities. This means:

• Say goodbye granular location targeting. You'll be limited to broader regions designated by Google, hindering the ability to have highly granular location targeting.
• Inability to differentiate between bot and human. Because Google Chrome will use this proxy and hide user identities, we won't be able to differentiate between real users and bots.
• Data Monopoly Alert! Google is increasing its collection of unique location data which could also increase costs to advertisers. Additionally, since this poxy would only be implemented on Chrome, Google would effectively have a monopoly on the data. No other search engines will have the data for advertisers to use for their location targeting.

3. TikTok Ban

President Biden officially signed the law to ban TikTok, giving its owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell the app or face an official ban in the United States. While this might not directly impact everyone, many businesses and content creators are nervous about what this could mean for the content and following they’ve built up the channel and the resulting brand following they’ve garnered from it. It also highlights the growing tension between privacy concerns and the ever-evolving regulatory landscape. Here's what this means for you:

• Privacy Wars: Reloaded! This is just another part of a larger and ongoing battle for data privacy, emphasizing the need for marketers to navigate a complex web of varying international, national, and regional privacy regulations.
• Tech Regulation on the Rise. Expect to see more scrutiny on digital technologies and be prepared how it’ll shift your marketing tactics both now and in the future.

What Now?

These developments highlight the importance of being agile and adaptable, but also staying informed in of the fast paced and ever-changing digital marketing world and the policies that go along with it. Here are some actionable takeaways:

• Diversify your strategies. Don't rely solely on any one tactic – whether that’s retargeting or third-party cookies or even a single channel. Explore other avenues of data collection, targeting, and engagement with your audience.
• Embrace transparency. Be knowledgeable about your own data collection practices and upfront with your users about it, too. Also, connect the dots between the data being collected across your website and ads and then bring it all together into a digestible view for you to better understand where improvements should be made. This can be done in a report dashboard such as Google's Looker Studio, Tableau or others.
• Stay informed. Keep an eye on emerging regulations and adapt your marketing initiatives accordingly.

Have questions about these changes or need help planning out your marketing roadmap? Consult with one of our experts today.