Benefits of Pardot First-Party Tracking 

The Ups and Downs of Third-Party Cookies and Benefits of Pardot First-Party Tracking

As we near 2023, many marketers are aware that Google’s Chrome browser will no longer support third-party cookies. This decision was made with the intention of protecting users’ privacy and preventing unauthorized tracking across the web. However, the loss of third-party cookies also presents a challenge, as they were previously instrumental in providing valuable insights into users’ journeys on the internet. This requires marketers and customers to adapt and find new ways to gather this information. To address this challenge, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) has created a first-party tracking solution, allowing customers to continue providing personal experiences based on users’ journeys and delivering relevant content at the right time.

What exactly is a “third-party cookie?”

The fundamental purpose of a web cookie is to store information within a user’s internet browser that can later be accessed by websites or web services during future visits. For instance, an e-commerce site may use a cookie to recognize a user and preserve their shopping cart between visits.

Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are set by a service provider that operates on a separate domain from the website. For example, consider the scenario where a video player service (videoexample.com) is embedded in a website (example.com) and stores the time watched, allowing the user to resume their viewing session on subsequent visits. In this case, the cookie set by the video service would be considered a third-party cookie since it does not share the same domain as the website.

Why are browsers killing third-party cookies?

Third-party cookies are commonly used to improve customer experiences, but they also bring significant privacy concerns. For example, they allow ads to follow you from website to website. Additionally, they can make users perform unwanted actions in web applications. In an effort to prioritize privacy, major web browsers are phasing out their support for third-party cookies. While Safari and Firefox have already discontinued use, the most significant change will occur when Chrome stops supporting them in 2023.

In a post-cookie era, first-party tracking can help you gather the information you need directly from your customers, allowing you to maintain the level of personalized marketing they’ve come to expect. However, shifting from third-party tracking to first-party tracking will bring about several changes to how Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) tracks engagement.

One major impact is that Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) customers will no longer be able to follow their visitors anonymously across different domains. This will be the case for all users of first-party tracking, whether they’re using Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) or a different platform. It means that:

When a customer visits firstbrand.com and then secondbrand.com, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) will create two separate visitors. The customer will have to fill out a form on both domains for their information to be linked. The second impact is that Pardot customers will need to align their domains for all their campaign assets in order to accurately track the customer’s journey. Domain alignment will be crucial in maximizing engagement data in a cookie-free world.

Align all engagement tracking with web domains

To accurately track the progress of a typical marketing campaign, all links and assets must be aligned with the same root domain as the tracking domain. For instance, if the campaign website is located at forcery.com, then the root of the tracking domain must also be forcery.com. This is crucial in ensuring that the complete journey of the campaign can be monitored and analyzed effectively. Any discrepancies in domain alignment could result in incomplete activity insights.

First party cookie implementation

In preparation for a transition to first-party tracking, careful planning can help ensure a smoother process. To get started, consider taking the following steps:

  • Conduct a thorough evaluation of your web assets to determine if any tracker domains are missing and need to be added.
  • Identify the websites you currently track and determine where you will need to update the Pardot tracking code.
  • Examine your content hosted by Pardot and make sure it is aligned with the appropriate domains. Once first-party tracking is activated, Pardot-hosted content will automatically use this method.

 Configuring Marketing Cloud Account Engagement first party cookie

To switch to first-party tracking, simply navigate to the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) Settings page or Account Settings in classic Pardot. From there, activate the “Use First-Party Tracking” option. By default, the “Use Third-Party Cookies with First-Party Tracking” setting will also be enabled to ensure a smooth transition and to preserve existing visitor data. The “Use Third-Party Tracking” setting manages the previous tracking functionality, and it’s recommended to turn it off after fully transitioning to first-party tracking to eliminate any potential confusion.

The process of creating tracker domains remains largely unchanged, with just a couple of differences to be aware of. Firstly, you’ll need to set a default campaign, which acts as a primary campaign for your tracker domain and allows you to change the campaign without changing the tracking code.

To do this, go to the Domain Management page and click “Edit” for each tracker domain.

Secondly, the tracking code generator is now located on the Domain Management page, directly below the “Tracker Domains” configurations. Simply choose the tracker domain and the platform will automatically generate the appropriate tracker code for you to place on your website. It’s important to select a tracker domain that matches your website’s domain to ensure activity is properly tracked.

For more information on the changing nature of website browser privacy concerns, click here.

 

June 8, 2022 MarTech, Pardot, Privacy Comments Off on Benefits of Pardot First-Party Tracking 

The Evolving Browser Privacy Landscape for Marketers

Browser Privacy Concerns

The competition to be known as the most privacy-focused browser is heating up among Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome. With third-party cookies, which are essential for website analytics, becoming a key topic in privacy discussions, the browsers are taking a closer look at their role.

Third-party cookies have been utilized to provide users with a seamless cross-site experience and to personalize advertisements based on their online behavior. They can also remember items in a virtual shopping cart when a user leaves a website. However, they also pose a significant threat to privacy as they can track users across the internet and allow unauthorized access to a web system through cross-site forgery attacks. This puts any user’s browsing data at risk of being compromised.

Given the privacy concerns surrounding third-party cookies, the leading browsers have agreed to phase them out. Chrome has even announced that it will stop supporting third-party cookies within the next two years, setting a timeline for competitors with a 65% market share to follow.

While increased privacy protection is critical, especially in regards to personal browsing data, the new privacy guidelines will require marketers to adapt as third-party cookies become obsolete and cross-domain data sharing becomes more restricted.

Browsers are taking privacy more and more seriously…

In a digital landscape where privacy is becoming increasingly important to consumers, browsers are working to provide the most secure and private experience. A recent study showed that 81% of consumers feel they have no control over the data collected by companies. In response, browsers have implemented various updates to enhance their privacy stance.

Safari:

Safari With the release of version 11 in 2017, Safari introduced Intelligent Tracking Prevention. This feature strengthened privacy by eliminating support for third-party cookies and implementing a Storage Access API, which requires user consent to share data across sites.

Firefox:

Firefox Following suit, Firefox rolled out Enhanced Tracking Prevention in version 69 in 2019. This update blocked third-party services connected to sites classified as known trackers. These domains collect, share, retain or use data for tracking purposes. Firefox also gives users the option to switch to stricter privacy settings that block all third-party cookies.

Google Chrome:

Google Chrome Chrome made its own move towards privacy with the release of version 80 in 2020, which introduced default SameSite settings for third-party cookies. The SameSite attribute identifies whether or not a cookie can be accessed and, with specific parameters, allows for first-party cookies to be sent while restricting third-party cookies. After implementing these settings, Chrome announced plans to phase out support for third-party cookies entirely by 2022.

As browsers continue to prioritize privacy, marketers will need to adapt and find new ways to reach and engage their audiences.

Differences between first and third party tracking cookies

It’s crucial for marketers to understand the distinction between first-party and third-party context as browsers enforce stricter privacy policies. Understanding this concept will become increasingly important as the privacy landscape evolves.

First-Party Context First-party context refers to data that is stored within first-party cookies, and the services used by a website share the same domain, represented by the Top-Level-Domain+1 (TLD+1), such as website.com. These cookies create a personalized experience for users while they are on the site and are not shared with third-party websites that have different domains.

Third-Party Context Third-party context means that data is stored within third-party cookies, or services that do not share the same TLD+1. For instance, let’s consider a video on website www.websiteblog.com hosted on www.websitetube.com. In this scenario, the video service is considered a third-party service.

Imagine the service provides an option for the viewer to resume their incomplete viewing the next time they visit the site. The service must store the time the viewer stopped watching somewhere in their browser, and it may choose to store this information in a cookie for www.websitetube.com, which would be a third-party cookie.

Marketers must plan NOW for privacy

Marketers must start examining the customer experience across their brand’s digital presence, especially if they have multiple websites. In the past, third-party cookies have been the primary means of providing a seamless experience for users, but due to the recent privacy changes implemented by browsers, marketers will have to pivot to first-party context. To adapt, they can take the following steps:

  1. Combine Microsites under One Domain: Minimize the number of TLD+1 domains used for offerings and combine multiple microsites under one TLD+1 domain for a more seamless experience. This gives users the assurance that all activity is within the same company and their data is not being shared with potentially harmful third parties.
  2. Assess Third-Party Cookie Dependencies: Work with the IT team to identify which marketing services and sites have third-party cookie dependencies. With the eventual loss of third-party cookies, marketers must have a risk mitigation plan in place to address the impact on their marketing tactics and user engagement.
  3. Give Users Control over their Data: Consider offering users more control over their data in a clear manner. As user consent becomes increasingly critical in the next decade, companies that want to be trusted with user data must prioritize giving users control.

By taking these steps, marketers can continue to provide personalized experiences that drive engagement and loyalty, even as privacy restrictions become stricter.

For more information, check out Salesforce’s help documentation on privacy and browser cookie tracking.

February 13, 2021 Pardot, Privacy Comments Off on The Evolving Browser Privacy Landscape for Marketers