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In the early days of digital advertising, cookies were used to track consumers as they moved across the web. Advertisers would drop tracking pixels on publishers’ websites and, as consumers moved from site to site, they would leave a trail of cookies behind them. This allowed advertisers to build up a picture of what sites their customers were visiting and what they were interested in.
However, cookies have now been largely replaced by more sophisticated tracking technologies, such as fingerprinting, which offer a more complete picture of the customer journey. Nevertheless, cookies are still used by some advertisers, and many are unaware of the potential limitations of using them.
One of the main limitations of cookies is that they can only track activity within the browser in which they are placed. This means that they provide a limited view of the customer journey and don’t give an accurate picture of the customer’s overall online activity.
Another limitation is that cookies can be blocked by browsers and some customers may delete them regularly. This means that advertisers can only track those customers who have not blocked cookies or deleted them.
Finally, cookies can only be used to track activity on websites that have implemented them. This limits their usefulness for tracking activity on mobile apps or other types of online platforms.
So what is the alternative to cookies? Server-side activation provides a more complete picture of the customer journey by tracking activity across all devices and platforms. It works by placing a tracking pixel on the advertiser’s website and then linking this to the customer’s ID in the advertiser’s CRM system. This allows advertisers to track all of the customer’s activities, regardless of whether they are using a desktop computer, a mobile phone or a tablet.
Server-side activation also has the advantage of being more resistant to blocking by browsers and deletion by customers. It is also less likely to be impacted by changes in how browsers handle cookies.
Overall, server-side activation provides a more complete and accurate picture of customer behavior than cookies. It is therefore essential for unlocking the full potential of your customer data.
