IAB Croatia Issues Guidelines for Digital Advertising After the Elimination of Third-Party Cookies

IAB Croatia, the Croatian branch of the IAB Global Network organization that brings together the global digital marketing market and creates global market standards, has prepared a document Guidelines for a Digital Future Without Third-Party Cookies, which is available in electronic form on the official IAB Croatia website, to provide relevant information about the digital world without the use of third-party cookies.

Unlike first-party cookies, which are stored by the domain (website) that the user directly visits, third-party cookies are created by domains that the user does not visit directly, and are used to track activities, as well as to improve advertising capabilities with the aim of optimizing the relevance of ads concerning the user’s affinities. The advertising market is consistently moving towards greater protection of user privacy, therefore work is being done on the gradual elimination of third-party cookies to enhance the user experience while also protecting user privacy, which represents a new step in digital advancement and a space for the development of new technologies.

The comprehensive document of IAB’s guidelines will therefore provide expert recommendations as answers to the following questions:

– What factors contributed to the elimination of third-party cookies?

– How will the elimination of third-party cookies affect stakeholders and the broader industry, including proprietary platforms?

– How will the elimination of third-party cookies impact the implementation of digital marketing campaigns?

– What solutions currently exist as alternatives to the use of third-party cookies?

– What industry solutions are currently being developed and who is working on them?

– How can I get involved and contribute to various solutions?

Three factors contributing to the elimination of third-party cookies are also listed and explained in detail: legal circumstances related to consent and tracking; access to consumer data in browsers (browser gatekeeping) and ad blocking. An important part of this document is also an overview of functionalities through which advertisers will still be able to connect with their audience.

– We are at an ideal moment to publish such material for the local market – early enough for everyone who missed out on learning more about this topic to know what to do and what implications can be expected for business. It is important to note that all those who have some form of digital presence will be affected by the changes in some way, and it is recommended that they inform themselves in more detail so that any adjustments are not more painful (and expensive) – explained Mario Frančešević, a member of the Management Board of IAB Croatia and CEO of SeekandHit.

For the Croatian market, the guidelines were adapted based on the IAB Europe Guide to the Post Third-Party Cookie Era document, with the help of other experts from the IAB Croatia working group for third-party cookies: Marko Jambrešić (Dentsu Croatia), Marko Mikeš (Httpool), and Saša Milinović (OMD). These guidelines aim to provide an overview of the solutions being worked on, while also offering answers to questions about the factors that contributed to the elimination of third-party cookies, how the elimination affects stakeholders, the broader industry, and the implementation of digital marketing campaigns.

– Participating in the creation of the guidelines together with other colleagues from the industry was truly an exceptional experience. I believe we have created guidelines from a very complex, yet simultaneously popular and extremely important topic for advertisers that will help them adapt to the upcoming changes that await us – said Marko Jambrešić, a member of the working group and Client Director at Dentsu Croatia.

This topic is particularly important for advertisers, emphasized Marko Mikeš (Meta Client Partner, Httpool), explaining: “Without the same quantity and quality of data, digital marketing loses part of its advantages. In this document, we tried to explain and simplify a complex topic and prepare the market for the abandonment of third-party cookies.”

Find the guidelines at the link, and learn more about the activities, projects, and membership of IAB Croatia at www.iab-croatia.com.