The End of Third Party Cookies and What It Means for Advertisers

Crumbs No More: Life After Third-Party Cookies

It’s official—third-party cookies are going stale. Google has confirmed it will phase them out from Chrome by 2025, marking a definitive shift in how digital advertising operates. While delays have kept the phase-out lingering for a few years, the direction is clear: the cookie jar is closing, and advertisers are being nudged toward a more privacy-conscious, data-transparent future.

This isn’t just a minor tweak to the system. It’s a foundational change that impacts everything from programmatic bidding to retargeting strategies. But it’s also a golden opportunity to evolve—especially for brands ready to embrace smarter, cleaner ways to connect with audiences.

What Were Third-Party Cookies, Anyway?

Third-party cookies allowed ad platforms and data providers to follow users across multiple sites—building profiles, tracking interests, and serving ads that felt spookily specific. It was powerful, yes, but it wasn’t built on user consent. As conversations around privacy grew louder, the need for change became inevitable.

Google’s decision isn’t just about Chrome. It reflects a wider shift already happening across Safari, Firefox, and increasingly privacy-aware consumers. The message is clear: trust and transparency are now central to any digital strategy.

Adapting to a Cookieless World

The advertising industry isn’t vanishing—it’s just changing shape. And not all of it lives in browsers.

• First-Party Data Takes the Lead: Brands are turning to data collected directly from their customers. Think loyalty programmes, app activity, newsletter engagement—interactions where users knowingly share information.
• Contextual Targeting Returns: Instead of relying on who someone is, contextual ads focus on where the message appears. Ads on travel blogs for luggage brands. Food ads on recipe sites. Simple, relevant, and effective.
• Privacy-Focused Tech Emerges: Solutions like Google’s Privacy Sandbox aim to strike a balance—allowing targeted ads without exposing individual identities. It's early days, but innovation is moving quickly.

Campaigns that blend first-party data with well-placed out-of-home (OOH) exposure—from digital billboards to airport screens—are already leading the charge. Our recent projects reflect this pivot towards smarter, privacy-friendly media planning.

Why OOH Advertising Becomes Even More Relevant

As digital targeting becomes more regulated, traditional formats are regaining their edge—especially when they’re supported by mobile and digital integration. Taxi wraps, airport displays, supermarket screens—they all offer one key advantage: visibility that doesn’t rely on cookies.

Out-of-home media doesn’t track you. It meets you where you are. And when combined with mobile targeting or QR-led engagement, it bridges the gap between awareness and action—ethically and effectively.

The brands featured in our gallery are already using this approach to create impactful, location-driven campaigns that sidestep the cookie question entirely.

What Comes Next?

This shift is about more than technology. It’s about values—about making advertising less invasive, more respectful, and ultimately more human.

As we move forward, expect to see more collaboration between platforms, publishers, and agencies to develop solutions built on consent. Brands will need a deeper understanding of their audiences, not just data about them.

It’s a time for rethinking. Reinventing. And perhaps, doing more with less. The future of advertising will be just as targeted—just not in the way it used to be.

For ongoing shifts in the media space, the news section is where we unpack what’s next. The cookies may be going, but the strategy is only getting sharper.