Browsers are upgrading in terms of “tracking protection”

von Olaf Brandt

The leading browser manufacturers are currently massively upgrading their privacy functions. Obviously, data protection has replaced speed as the top argument when choosing a browser. The protective measures do not actually focus on tracking for marketing automation, but rather on tracking across various website providers, such as large online platforms and advertising networks. Once again, everything revolves around cookies.

etracker also uses cookies for web analysis and browser notifications. But we already have solutions for you!

Goodbye third-party cookies!

Apple started with the Safari browser, which has been blocking third-party cookies by default for some time. Mozilla has now followed suit with the Firefox browser and even Google has announced that it will prevent third-party cookies in future.

At Signalize, we do not rely on third-party cookies, but primarily on first-party cookies. In this respect, the current changes to the default settings have no significant impact on the data collected with Signalize. Various subdomains (e.g. www.abc.de and blog.abc.de) are also not affected, as they share a first-party cookie.

Cookie lifetime 7 days

Cookies are divided into first-party and third-party cookies, depending on whether they come from the domain that users are currently accessing (first-party) or from an external domain (third-party). With first-party cookies, a distinction can also be made as to whether they are set on the client or server side. Client-side cookies can also be used to track users across multiple websites. In order to at least significantly limit this, client-side cookies in Safari and Firefox browsers are limited to a validity of seven days. This means that conversions can only be attributed to campaign contacts within one week prior to the conversion. This also makes it difficult to make statements about the (unique) number of visitors and return rates beyond seven days.

For etracker, we have therefore activated a longer cookie runtime for all customers by means of “local storage“. The only restriction is that cross-subdomain tracking is no longer possible. In this case, however, we offer the option of setting a first-party cookie on the server side for recognition, which requires minor configurations of the web server.
Tracking with etracke is therefore not restricted. We are also not the focus of the measures, as we do not merge or share data across providers. On the other hand, cookie-based ad remarketing is becoming increasingly limited. Mark Zuckerberg made it clear how seriously the topic of online advertising should be taken when he announced: “The future is private”.

The future of remarketing

Not only browser manufacturers have declared war on cross-domain profiling, but official bodies such as the German Data Protection Conference (DSK) and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) have also taken a clear stance on legally compliant tracking. Whether only with explicit consent à la “I agree to my data being transmitted to Facebook and Google so that I can be found via their services and reached with tailored advertising” or only short-term reminders of abandoned shopping baskets: ad remarketing will only be possible to a significantly limited extent in future.

This is why our own communication channels and a direct line to our own users are becoming increasingly important. There is currently still a lot of potential for companies to exploit in e-mail and direct mailings as well as web and mobile push. This applies both to the targeted collection of opt-ins and to the possibilities of personalized and behavior-triggered targeting. It is important to position ourselves correctly now and make adjustments in order to take advantage of opportunities and offset negative effects.

Our tip

Get started now with remarketing and marketing automation via browser notifications. Our new product Signalize makes it possible. This allows you to use a channel that is perfectly suited to today’s communication and implements “privacy by design” for browsers as standard.