The intrusive digital advertising ecosystem has just hit yet another advertising bump in the road.

Chrome, far and away the world’s most used browser, is planning to phase out third party cookies within two years, the company announced today.

As we know the subject of data and privacy has hit the headlines over the past 12 months for a variety of reasons, many of them reinforcing the stance for GDPR and CAA.

'Cookies' as we've come to know them have provided a wealth of covert low cost data to allow ad tech platforms the ability to continue to spew out a Tsunami of zillions of programmatic intrusive, fraud ridden ad messages. 

Many of these Cookies are being used to regurgitate those retargeting spammy adverts that follow you around the web regardless of device, and they're also the main driver for people to install ad blockers.

A recent blog of mine (found here) highlights that today over 50% of searches end without a click to the creator of the search item that surfaces. This is mainly because 'Google' are prioritising searchers over brands and clicks to websites.

Which means that Google prefers you to get your answer from them, not divert it's valuable traffic and data to your website.

Historically getting traffic to your website was the whole point of playing search optimisation with Google's bat and ball?

Example;

As the awareness on privacy continues unabated, and inertia is eventually being provided to those unwitting audiences ad land and it's clients need to find another way of remaining front of mind - but what are the options? 

Is it to continue to rely on cookies and other such covert and invasive tracking methods that's turning people off in their millions, or is it to consider how applying the skill of being authentically social, leading with media content that educates, informs, isn't intrusive, encourages engagement and allows brands to 'listen' as opposed to just paid ads. 

Now that might just be something worth exploring?