Data Analysis in the Age of Privacy: What Marketers Need to Know

Privacy-first Web: Why Major Browsers are Changing Their Policies on Cookies

Over the past few years, there has been a growing concern among internet users about their online privacy. This has prompted several major browser companies to take action by implementing policies to protect their users’ data. Leading the way in this revolution are Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari browsers, both of which have taken a strong stance on privacy by reducing cookie expiration dates.

Firefox was the first to make a move towards greater privacy, introducing its “Enhanced Tracking Protection” feature in 2019. This feature blocks third-party cookies by default, thereby preventing companies from tracking users’ online activity. Safari has also taken steps towards stricter privacy measures, introducing a similar feature in 2020 called “Intelligent Tracking Prevention.” Both of these features reduce cookie expiration dates to a maximum of 24 hours, making it much more difficult for companies to track users’ online behavior over time.

Other major browsers, such as Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Edge, have followed suit and have begun to implement similar policies. In fact, Google announced in early 2020 that it would phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome over the next two years, further signaling the shift towards greater privacy measures in the industry. With these policies now in place, users can feel more secure in their online activity, knowing that their data is being protected.

Impact on Marketers and Web Data Analysts

While these policies are certainly a win for users’ privacy, they have had a significant impact on the way marketers and web data analysts collect and analyze data. Here are some ways that these policies affect marketers and web data analysts:

1. Limited Data Collection: With reduced cookie expiration dates, it becomes much harder for marketers and web data analysts to collect long-term data on user behavior. This makes it difficult to track user engagement and make data-driven decisions for marketing campaigns.
2. Incomplete User Profiles: With less data being collected, user profiles become incomplete and may lack critical information such as interests, purchase history, and demographic information.
3. Difficulty in Attribution: With limited data, it becomes challenging to attribute website visits and sales to specific marketing campaigns or channels. This can result in inaccurate or incomplete data, leading to suboptimal decision-making.
4. Increased Reliance on First-Party Data: With third-party cookies being phased out, marketers and web data analysts will need to rely more on first-party data, which is the data collected directly from their own websites. While this data is more accurate, it is also limited to users who visit their site, reducing the size of the audience for their marketing campaigns.
5. Adapting to New Technologies: With the phasing out of third-party cookies, marketers and web data analysts will need to adapt to new technologies such as server-side tracking, contextual targeting, and cohort-based analysis to continue collecting and analyzing user data.

Overall, the policies towards greater privacy will pose significant challenges for marketers and web data analysts. They will need to adapt to new technologies and strategies to continue collecting and analyzing data. However, these policies also present opportunities for businesses to prioritize user privacy and develop more targeted, effective marketing campaigns based on first-party data.

How to continue being a ninja?

Despite the challenges posed by the shift towards greater privacy measures, there are still steps that marketers and web data analysts can take to overcome these challenges and continue collecting and analyzing user data. Here are some strategies that they can implement today:

1. Focus on First-Party Data: With the phasing out of third-party cookies, marketers and web data analysts will need to focus on collecting first-party data from their own websites. They can do this by implementing tools such as Google Analytics and other web analytics software to track user behavior on their site.
2. Use Contextual Targeting: With the limitations on tracking user behavior across the web, marketers and web data analysts can use contextual targeting to serve ads based on the content of the web page that the user is currently browsing. This allows them to reach users who are interested in a specific topic, even if they cannot track their behavior across multiple sites.
3. Implement Cohort-Based Analysis: Cohort-based analysis involves grouping users based on common characteristics such as demographics, interests, or behaviors. Marketers and web data analysts can use this approach to gain insights into user behavior over time and make data-driven decisions for their marketing campaigns.
4. Utilize Server-Side Tracking: Server-side tracking involves collecting user data on the server-side of a website rather than using client-side cookies. This approach allows for greater control over the data collection process and can provide more accurate data than traditional client-side tracking.
5. Prioritize User Consent: With the focus on greater privacy, it is essential for marketers and web data analysts to prioritize user consent. They can do this by implementing clear and transparent consent forms and providing users with the ability to opt-out of data collection and tracking.

As the shift towards greater privacy measures continues, it’s important for businesses to adapt their data analysis strategies to remain effective in their marketing campaigns. However, this can be a daunting task, especially for those who rely heavily on Google Analytics and other web analytics tools. At our services, we specialize in providing accurate and reliable data analysis solutions that can help businesses overcome the challenges posed by the changing privacy landscape. Our team of experts can work with you to develop customized strategies for collecting and analyzing first-party data, implementing contextual targeting, utilizing cohort-based analysis, and more. If you’re struggling to adapt to the new privacy measures, we’re here to help.

Further reading

• “Why Google is abandoning third-party cookies, and what comes next” (Fast Company)
• “Why Safari and Firefox users are now seeing a lot more ads” (The Verge)
• “How Marketers Can Navigate the Death of Cookies” (Harvard Business Review) –
• “Privacy and the Future of Advertising: A Conversation With DuckDuckGo’s CEO” (Forbes)
• “The End of Cookies: What it Means for Marketers and Advertisers” (Moz) –