The product utilises player data through first-party cookies and data clean rooms in a ‘data collection, connection and activation’ structure. Though, for Trafficology, our attention was more drawn towards the changing world of data collection.
The third-party cookie bites the dust
Internet technology over the past 30 years has changed rapidly. From the days of HTML sites and AOL to today’s Silicon Valley, social media-dominated online experience, what the internet once was and what it is today cannot be more different. However, one thing has persisted through all of it: the third-party cookie.
Azor explained that the third-party cookie was created by Lou Montulli. A small piece of code, Montulli launched it for the first time on Netscape in 1994 – making the third-party cookie older than the Trafficology Staff Writers!
The potential of the third-party cookie was soon picked up by marketers as more and more brands began to understand the marketing capabilities of the internet. Moreover, these cookies have underpinned programmatic advertising since they were introduced. Even today, with newer technologies and approaches available to marketers, Azor stated that in an Adobe study, 75% of marketers still rely on third-party cookies.
Despite this, third-party cookies are becoming a thing of the past across the wider online ecosystem. Both Safari and FireFox have phased out third-party cookies from their infrastructures and, according to Azor, 60% of governments are “excelling their readiness for a cookie-less future.” Even Google Chrome, the leading internet browser, isbeginning to phase out third-party cookies, though it is behind other aforementioned browsers in this process.
A new way of marketing
So, third-party cookies have gone stale and are on the way out. What’s next? To Azor, the solution lies in the “superior” first-party cookie. In summary, a third-party cookie is a form of data collection put onto a site by a third-party company. Meanwhile, first-party cookies are deployed by the company the user is visiting; Azor uses Amazon as an example, where its cookies can match users with video content based on activity like recent purchases. In larger or interconnected online economies, this can result in hyper-personalised experiences.
While hyper-personalisation is critical, another key difference between these cookies is consent. With first-party cookies, a user can know where their data is being used and how; personalised experiences have become a necessity for user retention and experience, with 83% of consumers willing share data for a personalised experience according to one source. However, in a first-party environment, the who and where of data is contained.
Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are owned by a domain different from the website being visited by the user. Who is this third party and where is the user’s data going? It is this question that has caused third-party cookies to become controversial, and why they have been labeled as threats to online privacy.
Consent on data collection and data use was a point brought up during the webinar by Trafficology. Falconer, in regard to Sportradar’s FanID product, answered as follows:
How do you go about using data responsibly while also creating these hyper-personalised experiences?
“I think everybody, and certainly integral to the platform, is now very aware of what we call responsible data custodianship. While there is regulation that is forcing businesses to change their practice, at the same time I think philosophically, businesses have to change their practices; to ensure that, while first-party data is given voluntarily and consensually (and of course that is a requirement now), at the same time it is not exploited.
“Within the architecture of the platform, simple things like numbers of engagement or what we call frequency, the frequency which fans are engaged, can be controlled. Certainly, leagues and federations are conscious that they don’t want to exploit their fans for commercial gain in a way that is going to affect their enjoyment of the sport, as sports fans are first and foremost absolutely.
“We ourselves, within FanID, want to provide the tools for that responsible custodianship to happen and be sustained. I think certainly in terms of the leagues and federations we are in discussions with, an important aspect is... I see the shift to first-party cookies and first-party data as a very good thing because this is an opportunity to impose control over the extent to which fans in and around the sports they love are engaged. I think that’s going to be a really important aspect of FanID as we develop.”
WHAT SHOULD MARKETERS DO NEXT?
In the presentation given by Sportradar and according to sources from Dentsu, of the $720bn 2023 global advertising market, $291.2bn is being spent on programmatic advertising. “The reason it has been flying under the radar is because it’s more channel related, it’s not creatively led; it’s not as visual,” Azor said. “Programmatic right now is still the most effective digital marketing solution, but it is still heavily underpinned by third-party cookies.”
With third-party cookies being phased out, it seems the next step for marketers is to embrace this change. Simply, sports marketers need to change their tune and rework their strategies to maximise the benefits of first-party cookies, not only from a marketing perspective, but from a perspective of morality. First-party cookies “are usually provided very knowingly in a digital value exchange,” explained Azor. Users are made aware of the collection and know who the beneficiaries are; it is a system of trust and respect for users, and with emotional connection being so pivotal to sports betting, this factor is especially key for Sportradar. “When we think about what happens next, it is moving towards the time of first-party cookies. It’s the time for first-party cookies to fully take over,” Azor concluded.
I see the shift to first-party cookies and first-party data as a very good thing because this is an opportunity to impose control over the extent to which fans in the sports they love are engaged
