How Publishers Can Capitalize On Cookieless Advertising?

Google announced in 2020 that it would phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome browser. However, as of 2026, Chrome continues to support third-party cookies while giving users greater control over how their data is used.

This extended transition has pushed publishers to rethink their dependence on third-party cookies and accelerate investment in privacy-forward alternatives such as first-party data, contextual targeting, and consent-driven advertising models. Cookies may still exist, but they can no longer be treated as a guaranteed or future-proof foundation for digital advertising.

What is clear is that publishers must take measures now to wean their inventory off a cookie-rich diet and adopt a leaner, wiser, and healthier means of online advertising as their top resolution in 2026

Third-Party Cookies Have Not Disappeared

Third-party cookies remain restricted or blocked by default in browsers like Safari (ITP) and Firefox, but in Chrome they are still fully supported and enabled by default as of 2026. Google scrapped its deprecation plans in April 2025, opting instead to maintain the status quo with user controls in browser settings. The narrative is no longer about an inevitable "death" in the near term, but about increasing fragmentation: cookies persist in Chrome but are under heavy regulatory pressure, user privacy expectations, and competition from privacy-focused alternatives. Publishers cannot rely on them indefinitely, as broader ecosystem shifts (e.g., consent requirements, signal loss) continue to erode their effectiveness.

How will it impact you?

The balance between user privacy and ad personalization is no longer a zero-sum battle. While regulatory pressure and consumer expectations continue to raise the bar for privacy, advertisers and publishers are adapting through a combination of consent-based data collection, contextual targeting, and hybrid identity approaches rather than relying on a single replacement for third-party cookies.

To offer targeted advertising, you will need to change your methods by relying heavily on contextual targeting, employing first-party data acquisition, and other identifiers that favor user privacy.

“The faster publishers can build their first-party data, the better placed they’ll be to thrive into the future. Those who have a direct relationship with their audience can monetize their traffic more easily. For publishers who don’t have the established brands to sustain subscription models, the challenge will be acquiring this data without putting all their content behind logins and the browsing experience.”

Source

You should collaborate with identity providers who respect privacy to enhance first-party data collection. These solutions, including Unified ID 2.0 from The Trade Desk, deal with the primary issue that arises from an identification strategy that relies on first-party data.

Also, behavior targeting is the main topic of debate regarding data-driven advertising. However, contextual targeting is also growing more advanced, and it promises to help marketers reach relevant audiences without requiring them to gather audience data that is sensitive to privacy. 

Publishers can even combine contextual and behavioral intelligence to provide user-specific advertising based on interests, demographics, and current events.

But wait, there’s more! 

In the programmatic market, addressable audience creation offers a chance to stand out. The companies that provide extensive audience data with more transparency about how to reach those audiences and track exposure to them will emerge victorious in the next phase of open online advertising.

Ultimately, publishers can maximize the value of their targeted audiences by utilizing artificial intelligence. By using AI, publishers may create more nuanced profiles and, consequently, more targeted alternatives by identifying trends in user behavior and using less data overall. As a result, publishers can optimize the return on investment for their ads, increasing revenue and retention.

Solutions to Capitalize in a Cookieless Advertising Era

Statista’s study indicates that around 83% of marketers still use third-party cookies to launch their campaigns. And replacing these with a suitable alternative will be a significant task. Publishers must look for innovative alternatives for cookies to obtain insights to discover prospective consumers while safeguarding their digital brand and communicating with their target audience.

• Identity solutions can come to the rescue

In the cookieless world, identity solutions and alternative IDs enable marketers to optimize addressability. You can also offer the supply chain a solid consumer identifier for advertisers to track online consumer activity and provide tailored advertisements.

The problem for publishers here is to navigate the market's profusion of identification solutions and understand what they are, how they function, and how they could deliver particular advertising results.

• First-Party and Zero-Party Data Unification 

According to an eMarketer survey, publishers and marketers have different perspectives on vital cookie choices. Nearly half (47%) of publishers see using first-party data as a crucial approach for replacing cookies, but most advertisers disagree.

But how can it help?

First-party data refers to client information that businesses obtain directly from their sources, such as website interactions, purchases, or email subscriptions. Zero-party data is based on information that consumers provide, like survey responses, poll results, quizzes, or expressed preferences. 

Publishers that understand the value of first & zero-party data collecting and use conversational marketing tactics will improve their consumer data repositories, providing more targeted, engaged, and legitimate impressions to their demand partners.

• Digital fingerprinting on the rise

Digital fingerprinting extracts user habits and preferences from unique digital features such as browser kinds, screen resolutions, and installed typefaces. 

While this data might be critical for delivering relevant advertising in appropriate channels, its primary value is optimizing ad placements to assure exposure rather than personalizing ads to individual profiles. 

Publishers can leverage Customer data profiles or CDPs to collect and analyze data to provide the best advertising experiences for their users.

• Dare to diversify

Being small doesn't imply that you don't deliver value; it means that your audience is smaller. If you are a niche publication with a committed readership, consider implementing a subscription or freemium model. 

Is Contextual Advertising Making a Comeback?

Contextual targeting has been around for over two decades. However, the current contextual advertising, in particular, utilizes more sophisticated machine learning, allowing publishers and advertisers to be much more granular and smarter about targeting and matching the right ad with the content. 

“One of those “new ways” is a decidedly old way. Contextual advertising – which old-timers will remember as the way online advertising used to work – serves ads that are based on the content of the page, rather than on an individual user’s browsing history. So ads for wedding gowns appear next to content about weddings, rather than following a presumed bride-to-be around whichever websites she happens to visit.”

Source

While content around weddings was automatically thought to be an ideal spot to show an ad for wedding dresses, today's contextual advertising engines can learn a lot more about the content and make automated placement judgments based on various criteria. 

Many businesses are drawn to contextual advertising because of the possibility of directly tying their brand with high-quality content. 

A contextual targeting campaign by perfume company Carolina Herrera resulted in a 44% increase in brand memory due to its closeness to appropriate holiday gift tips. Publishers can utilize contextual and behavioral data to create advertising tailored to the user's interests, demographics, and current experiences.

When combined, these offers enable publishers to differentiate themselves in a market where competition for ad revenue will be fiercer owing to rising prices and increased competition from walled gardens.

What Happened to Google’s Privacy Sandbox?

Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, intended to provide privacy-preserving alternatives to third-party cookies, was officially retired in October 2025. After years of delays, low adoption, and regulatory challenges, Google phased out the remaining APIs (including Topics, Protected Audience, and Attribution Reporting) for both Chrome and Android, and dropped the "Privacy Sandbox" branding entirely. While it influenced industry thinking on privacy tech, publishers can no longer view it, or any of its APIs, as a viable long-term solution. The focus has fully shifted to diverse, market-driven alternatives like first-party/zero-party data, advanced contextual targeting, identity solutions, and consent-based models.

Path Forward for Publishers

The cookie landscape has settled into a more stable (but still challenging reality). Google retired its Privacy Sandbox initiative in October 2025, phasing out the remaining APIs due to low adoption and regulatory pressures, and abandoning the branding altogether. At the same time, third-party cookies remain enabled by default in Chrome. Users can still disable them via existing browser settings, but there's no forced browser-level change coming.

This means the industry isn't heading toward a clean "cookieless" future driven by one dominant player. Instead, we're in a fragmented environment: cookies persist in Chrome (the majority browser) but face growing restrictions elsewhere (Safari, Firefox), stricter regulations (GDPR, CCPA expansions), rising user opt-outs, and signal degradation from privacy tools. Publishers who over-rely on third-party cookies risk future disruptions as ecosystem shifts continue.

The smartest path forward is proactive adaptation:

• Maximize first-party and zero-party data through direct relationships, subscriptions, newsletters, quizzes, and conversational tactics. Those who own audience data thrive regardless of browser changes.
• Invest in advanced contextual targeting powered by machine learning for privacy-safe, high-relevance ads that tie directly to content.
• Explore privacy-respecting identity solutions (like Unified ID 2.0) and hybrid approaches to maintain addressability without heavy cross-site tracking.
• Leverage AI and customer data platforms (CDPs) to build nuanced, efficient profiles using less invasive data.
• Diversify revenue with niche models like freemium, subscriptions, or memberships, especially for publishers with loyal, engaged audiences.

In short: Treat third-party cookies as a temporary, non-guaranteed asset rather than a foundation. Publishers who build direct audience value, combine contextual + behavioral intelligence, and prioritize consent and privacy will not just survive, they'll outperform in this privacy-first era. The tools and strategies are mature, and the competitive edge goes to those acting decisively.