Four years after Google’s announcement that it would be phasing out cookies – followed by delays around the mandate – privacy-centric addressability tools and tactics are increasingly becoming available (and viable), but are advertisers ready for an impending cookieless future?

A report put out by ID5 says yes, with 80% of respondents confident they have addressability strategies firmly in hand.

ID5 is an identity provider for the digital advertising industry, and it put out its 2023 State of Digital Identify Report on October 31. This year’s report specifically looks at how businesses are preparing (or not preparing) to navigate the privacy landscape going into 2024.

Despite several pushbacks on the phase-out timeline, the report indicates that almost 70% of respondents feel there won’t be any more delays and the cookie will be gone for good as of 2024.

“The debate is no longer about whether Google will or will not deprecate third-party cookies,
but rather how prepared organizations will be once they are gone,” said Mathieu Roche, CEO
and co-founder of ID5 said in a release. “Organizations that used 2023 to solidify cookieless addressability strategies will fare better in 2024 than those that have not. Organizations that have not are likely to face revenue loss once the phased deprecation begins.”

As far as preparedness, the report indicates that 74% of advertisers have adopted one or more cookie/addressability alternatives, up significantly from 32% the year prior.

When it comes to alternatives, the report indicates that 25% of respondents (the majority) are turning to first-party data as the most viable and scalable alternative to third-party cookies, but the report also found that many advertisers are still uncertain how to address other channels.

More specifically, uncertainty is high for media like connected TV (CTV). With its growing popularity, the report notes that CTV doesn’t have a common currency to identify users, collect consent, and effectively activate user data, with 80% of respondents indicating the current CTV identification system doesn’t give users adequate control or transparency over their data.

“These learnings and innovations will extend far beyond browsers and have already spilled over into newer channels such as CTV, mobile, and gaming,” Roche said. “This is a trend we expect to see grow in 2024.”