An examination of what truly constitutes a "first-party" or "third-party" cookie, how browsers handle them now and might in the future, and what this all means to consumers and marketers.
QCon London: Mastering long-running processes in modern architectures
First and Third-Party Cookies
1. First and Third-Party Cookies
WILL CLAYTON
VP, DIGITAL PRODUCTS – WILAND DIRECT
• What Are They?
• How Do They Behave?
• How Are They Changing?
• What That Means
2. First and Third-Party Cookies
WILL CLAYTON
VP, DIGITAL PRODUCTS – WILAND DIRECT
• What Are They?
• How Do They Behave?
• How Are They Changing?
• What That Means
3. 17 Years in Online Technology:
eCommerce, Ad Serving, Rich Media, Marketing Optimization, Behavioral,
Multi-Channel Integration , Email, Addressable Advertising, Privacy…
COMPETENT!
Member… Still
Working on
Certification… It‟s
Really Hard
Go Pack!
4. Thanks Google Image Search!IMAGINE A KISS… of enduring beauty and purity;
That‟s a FIRST-PARTY RELATIONSHIP; personal and meaningful
between consumer and brand
5. What is a (Web) Cookie?
● The Internet was “Stateless”
● ‘Cookie’ Allows a Server (Site) to Remember
Something About a Visitor
- String of Alphanumeric Characters (up to 4096)
- Browser Should Store Up to 20 Cookies per Domain
and at Least 300 Total
- Only Returned to the Site/Domain that Issued It
Designed to be PERSONAL, Only the Domain
That Issued It Can Read a Web Cookie
7. [REALLY BAD Australian „Crocodile Hunter‟ Accent…]
Let‟s See if We Can Observe an ACTUAL COOKIE
in It‟s Native Environment…
8. Set-Cookie=
bby_cbc_lb=p-browse-w2b;
Expires=Wed, 12-Jun-2013 16:31:00 GMT;
domain=www.bestbuy.com;
akaau=1371055860~id=9c397a3b39587beaa29837d8d224c974;
path=/
[BAD Accent Continues; Gets Worse]
There it is – an ACTUAL COOKIE; It‟s GORGEOUS
Look at that CONTENT; That EXPIRATION date;
What a Beauty! And with that DOMAIN,
only Best Buy and I can see it!
9. Set-Cookie=
bby_cbc_lb=p-browse-w2b;
Expires=Wed, 12-Jun-2013 16:31:00 GMT;
domain=www.bestbuy.com;
akaau=1371055860~id=9c397a3b39587beaa29837d8d224c974;
path=/
Set-Cookie=
id=2246896aa1010000||t=1371054062|et=730|cs=002213fd48227;
expires=Fri, 12-Jun-2015 16:21:02 GMT;
domain=.doubleclick.net;
expires=Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:59:00 GMT
path=/;
[One More with the Accent… Almost Done]
CRIKEY!! What‟s That Fella‟ Doing Here?!?
How does a visit to BESTBUY.COM leave me with
a cookie from DOUBLECLICK.NET?
[Aaaaand… SCENE!]
10. Third-Party Cookies
In Fact: Best Buy is so committed to their
relationship with me that they‟ve enlisted as many as
20 PARTNERS to help me find what I‟m looking for!
[These are reputable partners and I am totally OK with this]
11. How Do Cookies Behave?
● Behavior Determined Entirely By Browser
● Server ‘Issues’ it and the Browser
Chooses to Accept It or Not
Based on Default and User Settings
● Different Browsers Behave Differently By Default
Is YOUR MOM really going to change
the browser DEFAULT settings? Are You?
BROWSERS
12. Browser Cookie Behavior
● Mozilla Firefox:
Historical Default = Accept 3P Cookies
Proposed Default = Reject 3P Cookies
● Google Chrome: Accept Third-Party Cookies
● Apple Safari: Reject Third-Party Cookies
First Major Browser to Reject 3P Cookies by Default
● Microsoft Internet Explorer: Accept Third-Party Cookies
Trying some new Things: “Lists” that block cookies and content;
Proposed default inclusion of user “Do-Not-Track” Preference Flag
1http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.aspLet‟s DELETE that DoubleClick Cookie, Set Firefox to REJECT THIRD-
PARTY COOKIES, Go Back to BestBuy.com and See What Happens!
15. ● Mozilla Firefox: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Google Chrome: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Apple Safari: Ever Even Been to the Site
● Microsoft Internet Explorer: Ever Accepted a Cookie
*UnlessSheClearsHer
Cookiesand/orHistory
This means that
Miss Wendy Webbrowser‟s
Deeply Personal
Relationship…
How Browsers Define First-Party
16. Browser 1st Party Definitions
● Mozilla Firefox: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Google Chrome: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Apple Safari: Ever Even Been to the Site
● Microsoft Internet Explorer: Ever Accepted a Cookie
…May Still Include
ANYONE with Whom
She‟s Had a PRIOR
RELATIONSHIP!
MOVE ALONG:
This is Here for
COMEDIC EFFECT and
Not to Imply That
Cross-Domain
Cookies are
Harmful;
In Fact, Quite
the Opposite…
17. Browser 1st Party Definitions
● Mozilla Firefox: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Google Chrome: Ever Accepted a Cookie
● Apple Safari: Ever Even Been to the Site
● Microsoft Internet Explorer: Ever Accepted a Cookie
SHE HAS GOOD TASTE:
He‟s a Gentleman
and So Are His
Friends
18. Where Have You Been?
Google
Facebook
YouTube
Yahoo!
Amazon
Bing
eBay
Wikipedia
Craigslist
Windows Live
LinkedIn
Twitter
Blogspot
AOL
Go.com
MSN
Pinterest
Tumblr
Ask
Netflix
Source: Alexa.com (Top US Online Properties by Traffic)
Several of
These Domains are
Associated with
MARKETING PLATFORMS;
If You Use a Site,
Cookies in That Domain
are FIRST-PARTY,
Anywhere They Are
Issued to You,
REGARDLESS OF YOUR
BROWSER SETTINGS
19. Who Wins in All of This?
Joe Consumer?
Will Rejecting Third-
Party Cookies
Exclude Him From
Retargeting, Behavio
ral Targeting or
Other Interest-
Driven Marketing?
NOPE.
MANY Interest-Based
Networks Would Be
Unable to Serve
Him; The Rest Will
CONTINUE AS THEY DO
NOW and Make Up
the Difference
20. Who Wins in All of This?
Digital
Advertising
as a Whole?
Highly
Competitive, Highly
Innovative, Jointly
Dedicated both to
Consumer Privacy and
Marketing Effectiveness
Nope.
The Vast Majority
of Ad Tech Providers
Rely on
Secure, Compliant, Thir
d-party Cookies to
Power
the Ad-Supported
Internet
21. Who Wins in All of This?
A Tiny
Handful of
Huge Companies
That Happen to
Also Function as
Portals?
Yup.
Marketing Associated
with THESE Firms Will Be
MINIMALLY AFFECTED
While Independent
Competitors
Suffer
22. What Can I Do?
● Deal With (and Be!) Reputable Online Organizations,
Personally and Professionally
● Help Consumers & Others Understand:
- The Difference Between Arbitrarily Blocking “Third---
Party” Cookies and Managing a Marketing Relationship
- Clarify definitions before attempting to apply controls
23. QUESTIONS? WILLCLAYTON@GMAIL.COM
BUT SERIOUSLY… I Try to Have Fun with my Presentations, but This is an Important Issue;
We Have a Responsibility to UNDERSTAND our industry and Maintain
our COMMITMENT to consumer protection and ethical marketing.
Points:
• “Third-Party” Doesn‟t Mean What Most People Assume It Does
• It Excludes Visited Sites,
Regardless of What You‟re Viewing Now
• This Leaves “Daily Visit” Sites Largely
Unaffected by Proposed Changes to Cookie handling
• The Net Effect of Third-Party Cookie Blocking is
Decreased Competition and Harm to Consumers
This document includes
content captured from
online sources without
formal copyright holder
consent. It is included as
“Fair Use” per US Copyright
Office guidelines on the
basis that: (1) It is used
exclusively for non-profit,
educational purposes, (2)
Only Individual images are
used from any single work,
primarily for identification
purposes or in a satirical
context; (3) It is intended for
a narrow audience unrelated
to the original commercial
value of the work.