Cookies Are Dead (Again): Post-Cookie Targeting That Works

For years, digital marketers have relied on browser cookies to track user behavior, build audience profiles, and deliver personalized ads. But the cookie era is coming to an end—again. While third-party cookies have been under scrutiny for some time, recent developments have made it clear: the industry needs to adapt, and fast.

Why Cookies Are Dying—Again

This isn’t the first time we’ve sounded the death knell for cookies, but 2024 may finally be the year. Following increasing pushback against invasive data practices and the tightening grip of privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, major browsers have stepped in to phase out third-party cookies.

Google Chrome, which controls over 60% of browser market share, will phase out third-party cookies by the end of 2024.
Safari and Firefox already block them by default.
Consumers are more privacy-conscious than ever, demanding transparency and control over their data.

So, what comes next? Marketers need new strategies that respect privacy, maintain relevance, and deliver performance.

Post-Cookie Targeting: What Actually Works

Without third-party cookies, marketers can’t just drop tracking snippets on websites and watch user behavior unfold across the internet. But the situation isn’t hopeless. New tools and concepts have emerged to fill the gap left by cookies, some of which are turning out to be not just alternatives—but improvements.

1. First-Party Data: The King of the New Era

As third-party data becomes less accessible, first-party data, collected directly from users, is emerging as a more reliable and privacy-friendly option.

This includes:

Email addresses from newsletter signups
User behavior on your own website

<liPurchase history and product preferences

<liSurvey responses or customer feedback

Brands that can build rich profiles using first-party data have a leg up. Why? Because this data is gathered consensually and often more accurate than what’s scraped from across the web.

2. Contextual Targeting: Everything Old Is New Again

Before cookies, there was contextual targeting. And in a world that values privacy, this old technique is making a big comeback.

Contextual targeting involves placing ads based on the content of a web page—showing a Nike ad on a sports blog, for instance. No user tracking required. Technology has made this far more advanced than it used to be. Today, AI can analyze not just keywords, but sentiment, tone, and even image context.

The result? Ads that are relevant and privacy-safe without needing to know anything personal about the user.

3. Identity Solutions: Replacing the Cookie Crumb Trail

A variety of companies are developing identity resolution platforms that provide anonymized, persistent identifiers for users based on opt-in data. These platforms often rely on hashed emails and device IDs to allow marketers to track audiences across apps, websites, and platforms—without cookies.

Some notable identity frameworks include:

Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) – An industry-led initiative meant to provide a secure and transparent ID based on email addresses.
LiveRamp’s IdentityLink – Connects offline and online data around individuals in a privacy-friendly way.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox – A set of APIs that allow targeting and measurement without revealing individual identities.

4. Cohort-Based Targeting: The FLoC That Never Flew

Google’s initial proposal to replace cookies with a system called FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) didn’t gain traction and is now being reimagined under the Privacy Sandbox umbrella. The idea is simple: group users with similar interests into cohorts, then target the group rather than individuals.

Though still in development, cohort-based targeting aims to strike a balance between anonymity and relevance.

The Role of Machine Learning and AI

In a post-cookie world, AI-driven insights play a bigger role than ever. Without detailed user tracking, advertisers are leaning on algorithms that can parse massive datasets to detect patterns and make educated guesses about user preferences.

AI can help with:

Dynamic content personalization
Predictive segmentation
Location-based advertising
A/B testing with better automation

This shift toward probabilistic rather than deterministic tracking is imperfect but evolving quickly to maintain performance standards.

Email and CRM Integration: The Ultimate Owned Channel Strategy

Email marketing is experiencing a renaissance as brands invest in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to centralize and activate first-party data. Paired with proper consent and personalization, email can become a powerful advertising weapon.

Advanced CRMs allow you to segment your audiences with precision—based on purchases, website activity, or even email open behavior—without touching a single third-party cookie. It’s no wonder that brands are doubling down on their newsletters, loyalty programs, and gated content strategies to collect more high-intent data.

What Marketers Should Do Right Now

The transition away from cookies won’t happen overnight, but the time to act is now. Here are a few practical steps marketers should take immediately:

Audit your data sources. Understand where your data is coming from and how reliant you are on third-party cookies.
Invest in first-party data infrastructure. Set up clean, secure, and user-friendly ways to collect data directly from customers.
Test contextual and cohort-based targeting now. Don’t wait until the last cookie crumbles.
Explore identity solutions. Evaluate which platforms align with your privacy policies and business needs.
Stay agile and informed. Regulatory and platform changes are ongoing; your strategy should be flexible enough to evolve.

The Future Is Cookieless—and That’s OK

Cookies may be going extinct, but personalization is not. Brands that double down on trust, transparency, and smart analytics can not only survive in a cookieless world—they can thrive.

While this shift can feel daunting, it’s also an opportunity to forge more authentic relationships with customers and build marketing systems that are both compliant and future-proof.

In summary: