Business data providers as alternatives to third party cookies

The recent announcement of upcoming changes to Chrome’s third-party cookie policy can cut off a valuable market for the advertising industry. But what does this mean for B2B data providers? Can they take charge of the situation and provide alternatives to third-party cookies?

The Cookie crumbles

Trends change, industries shift, and new rules come into play. Google’s new third-party cookie policy aptly named the “Cookie-pocalypse” sent shock waves through the $565 billion ad industry. Already struggling with an increasing number of inquiries and calls for stricter privacy laws, this decision presents a blow to the growth and profitability of this market segment.

Criteo, a leading advertising platform, saw a 15.9% share drop after Google’s decision went public.

Industry feedback has also been dire with criticism and discontent.

Google is known for making a number of controversial decisions over the years some even recently, but this was a surprising move coming from the advertising and search giant. According to some industry analysts, however, the move is not entirely unexpected.

A growing concern for data gathering

In a short time span, both Safari and Mozilla Firefox opted to block third-party cookies by default, with Microsoft’s Edge soon to follow. Google also proposed a set of new standards dubbed the Privacy Sandbox, that will improve user privacy while supporting the ad web. With the clock starting on the 2-year time period for the complete removal of third-party cookies, there should be plenty of time for ad-based companies to find new avenues of advertising.

In a number of company statements, Google has repeatedly pledged to strive for an acceptable compromise between all parties involved.

Following the announcement, the significance of data collected by others means skyrocketed and a lot of looks turned to part of the market occupied by B2B data providers. In response to increasingly stricter privacy and data processing laws by the EU and the US, the GDPR and CCPA respectively, the industry needs a more reliable way of obtaining data. Data providers such as Sales.Rocks, are perfectly positioned for the influx of clients looking for new data streams.

Business data providers & the industry

Business data providers distanced themselves early on from the part of the industry relying on data collection with the help of the as of now doomed third party cookie. For that reason, the consequences following Google’s recent decision will have little impact on their business plans going forward.

The separation from the main ad-data source pushed this part of the industry to a market niche while providing them with a degree of independence from Google and mainstream data collection processes. Therefore, their data-gathering methodologies evolved differently.

By using intelligent data collection technologies and machine learning algorithms to collect publicly available business data, the benefits are twofold.

Firstly, the data is of higher quality and easier to validate since it is already available publicly. And secondly, the whole process is more transparent due to clearly outlined data collecting and processing policies.

Alternatives to third-party cookies

In the climate of big-budget marketing and sales campaigns, it needs to be said…Data is important. Moreover, the quality and accuracy of that data are vital. For too long the marketing sector relied on big data to drive their quarterly plans and decisions.

But how can you make a good decision based on incomplete and inaccurate data?

The thing is…You can’t.

Marketers were content with the quality of the data they had because it was good enough. But in the long run, businesses that don’t think ahead, fall behind.

The sales sector was no different. The emphasis was on getting the data and reaching as many potential clients as possible without regard for the significance of the data.

Who are they? What do they do? Can they make the decision to buy even if they wanted to?

For the marketing and sales teams, these questions are vital. Instead of jumping through hoops to extract and process the information they need, why not simply go from A to B and just get the info you want.

Companies like Sales.Rocks, Vainu and Cognism present a solution for a problem the ad industry itself created.

With the application of intelligent data gathering, only business-related data is collected, instead of using inaccurate third-party cookies to gather data that isn’t valuable and that imposes on your privacy.

Two types of data are collected for business purposes. Basic information including a person’s name, title, company position and country of residence plus contact information comprised of phone number and email address. Moreover, the data is updated and re-validated. Ensuring it is highly accurate and valuable.

Looking ahead

Google’s decision may present uncertainty for a large part of the data industry, but the market course correction has already begun by providing valuable alternatives for third-party cookies. Sales.Rocks and other business data providers present a great alternative for data sourcing.

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