Why Your Ads Aren’t Working (And What Third-Party Cookies Have to Do With It)
If your Google or Meta ads aren’t hitting like they used to, you’re not imagining it.
Lately, we’ve seen more and more small business owners asking why their advertising costs are creeping up while their results are heading in the opposite direction. Here’s the truth: a big part of that change comes down to something you can’t see - the slow but steady disappearance of third-party cookies.
Let’s break down what’s happening, why it matters, and how you can get ahead of it before it costs you more.
What are third-party cookies (and why are they disappearing)?
Third-party cookies are tiny bits of code placed on a user’s browser by a website other than the one they’re currently visiting. These cookies help advertisers (like us) track users across the web - so we know what they’re interested in, and can show them the right ads.
But privacy regulations and browser changes (hello Safari, Firefox, and soon Chrome) are putting an end to all that. The result? Less data for advertisers to work with.
What this means for your ads
When third-party cookies disappear, the platforms we rely on (Google Ads, Meta Ads) can’t see the full picture of your customer’s journey. That means:
Audiences become less accurate
Retargeting gets weaker
Conversions become harder to track
Your budget stretches less far
You might notice campaigns that used to deliver strong ROI are now struggling. That’s not bad luck — it’s bad data.
So how do you fix it?
You can’t bring cookies back, but you can upgrade your setup. Here’s how we help SMEs future-proof their digital advertising:
Switch to first-party tracking using Enhanced Conversions, Google Tag Manager, and Meta Conversions API
Improve your product feeds via Merchant Center to help Google understand what you sell
Capture first-party data through better landing pages and email capture
Use clean, high-quality data to build more reliable audiences
