Cookieless Advertising Solutions: Edge Tag Technology and Multi-Touch Attribution

Third party cookies are a foundational piece of the internet whether we like it or not. However, recent shifts toward protecting user privacy and customer data have brought into question the future of third party cookies what this means for cookieless advertising.

We’ve explored solutions to third party cookie deprecation in past articles (see Google’s Third Party Cookie Phase Out & Post-Cookie Strategy) including contextual advertising, robust first party data, and more. However, Google’s latest announcement backtracks their previous commitment to remove third party cookies altogether – instead shifting to an opt in/opt out model.

What this means for digital advertising?

Cookieless advertising solutions may not be necessary in the short term, but targeted advertising will certainly change. We’ve seen this already with Apple’s removal of MAID tracking for most iOS users following iOS 14.5. Limited tracking across apps restricted the identity graph used to compile user data and deliver targeted advertising. This had a profound effect on the ad performance of platforms reliant on mobile traffic (Meta, Pinterest, etc.).

With increasing focus on user privacy and ever-changing privacy regulations, marketers must find new ways to maintain an effective advertising strategy. We’ll discuss three tools you can use today to tackle cookieless advertising while remaining privacy compliant. But first, let’s review pixel tracking as it exists today.

Pixel Tracking in A Cookieless World

How Traditional Pixel Tracking Works

Pixels are 1×1 transparent images or scripts added to website code when a specific event occurs. They are categorized as either first party cookies or third party cookies (for more on the difference, see article). 

When a users visits any page on a site, a pixel contained in the site code on the page tracks the event (page view). This pixel assigns a unique ID to the user that remains in the browser until the user clears their cache.

This enables advertisers to track things like:

  •  Web pages visited
  •  Content views (blogs, products, etc.)
  •  Transactions or Leads

The User Privacy Challenge

The removal of 3rd party cookies from the browser prevents this unique identifiers from being saved and continuously tracked, severely impairing targeting capabilities.

While server-side integrations like Facebook Conversions API attempt to address this by storing IDs on the website’s server rather than the browser, they face several limitation with tracking.

There are several reasons tracking could still be affected including:

  • Ad blockers preventing initial data collection
  • Slow page load times interrupting tracking scripts
  • Browser privacy settings blocking tracking attempts
  • Multiple devices creating fragmented user profiles

These interrupt tracking and can cause a new unique ID to be generated for the same user. Tracking may still occur, but now on several IDs which cannot be tied to each other.

As the digital marketing ecosystem becomes more fragmented, solutions have started to crop up addressing tracking resilience.

The Solution to Cookieless Tracking

Edge tag technology represents a fundamental shift in tracking methodology, moving beyond both browser-based and server-side solutions.

Edge Tag Technology

Unlike traditional tracking methods, edge tags utilize Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) to capture user interactions without relying on cookies. This system works in conjunction with a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to:

1. Generate persistent unique identifiers independent of browsers or servers
2. Store user data indefinitely in a privacy-compliant manner
3. Maintain consistent tracking across user sessions

Google explored a similar tech with Privacy Sandbox though focused more on targeted advertising vs cookieless attribution. 

Benefits & Considerations

  • Enhanced compliance with privacy regulations through persistent cookie consent management
  • More accurate user identification for better ad targeting and cookieless attribution
  • Improved data quality for media mix modeling and campaign performance analysis
  • Improved resilience against ad blockers and privacy settings

An easy way to implement this tech is working through a partner like Blotout. However, marketers looking to implement edge tag tech independently should:

  • Ensure proper integration with existing marketing technology stack
  • Configure appropriate privacy settings and consent mechanisms
  • Set up regular data quality monitoring
  • Establish clear data governance protocols

Multi-touch attribution (MTA)

Data reliability is only half the battle. Advertisers need accurate measurement of online advertising performance across channels like Google Ads, Social Ads, Email, Organic, and more.

Multi-touch attribution and 3rd-party aggregate reporting platforms enable this through measurement of all online advertising efforts in one integrated platform.

The Evolution of Attribution

While multi-touch attribution (MTA) isn’t new, modern solutions have evolved to meet the demands of cookieless advertising and cross-channel measurement challenges. Unlike traditional attribution in platforms like Campaign Manager or DV360 (focused on Google Ads and programmatic advertising), today’s MTA solutions offer comprehensive channel integration.

How Modern MTA Works

Modern MTA platforms combine multiple data sources:

  • First party cookie data (stored up to 400 days in Google Chrome)
  • CRM data integration
  • Direct platform integrations (Google Ads, Programmatic Advertising, Email, etc.)
visual of channel silos in traditional attribution vs cross-channel attribution in multi-touch model.

Tracking is completely independent of third party cookies and much more accurate than options like Google Analytics. This offers key benefits such as:

  • Accurate new vs returning user tracking
  • Cross-channel conversion deduplication
  • Complete customer journey analysis
  • Privacy compliant tracking methodology

Combined with a cookieless tracking solution like Blotout, attribution can be up to 95% accurate, better informing marketing strategy and ad targeting.

Good options for MTA solutions are Northbeam and WickedReports, but many platforms exist leveraging comparable tech.

Entering a cookieless world

As privacy regulations tighten and major platforms like Google shift their cookie policies, digital marketers face a critical transition period. While third-party cookies may persist through opt-in models, the industry is clearly moving toward more privacy-centric solutions. Forward-thinking marketers should begin implementing cookieless tracking methods now, focusing on:

  • Edge tag technology paired with CDPs for persistent, privacy-compliant user identification 
  • Multi-touch attribution platforms that leverage first-party data for accurate cross-channel measurement
  • Server-side integrations to maintain tracking resilience

By proactively adopting these cookieless advertising solutions, marketers can not only preserve their targeting and measurement capabilities but potentially achieve greater accuracy in attribution and user identification than traditional cookie-based approaches. The future of digital advertising isn’t just about adapting to limitations – it’s about building more robust, privacy-first measurement frameworks that benefit both marketers and consumers.