{"id":925,"date":"2020-06-09T07:41:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T04:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/persona.qcri.org\/blog\/?p=925"},"modified":"2021-03-21T14:28:30","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T11:28:30","slug":"personas-in-a-cookieless-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/persona.qcri.org\/blog\/personas-in-a-cookieless-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Personas in a cookieless world"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a post from the APG Team’s summer 2020 intern, Jaad Mohammed.<\/em>
\n——–<\/p>\n

In January 2020, Google announced that they are going to phasing out support for all third-party cookies within the next two years<\/a>. This decision comes in response to growing concerns over data privacy, including transparency, choice, and control over how online data is used, which matters greatly in a day and age where a lot of information is digitalized.<\/p>\n

What are cookies?<\/h3>\n

Cookies (also known as internet cookies, http cookies, browser cookies or web cookies) are small text files made by websites and stored accessible to your web browser so that these websites can log in some of your preferences and activities, such as your saved user ID and password, personalized theme settings or the items in a shopping cart of an online store, etc. These cookies are generally known as first-party cookies<\/strong>, in that they are from the website the user is visiting.<\/p>\n

However, there is also something called third-party cookies<\/strong>. Third-party cookies are ones from a website other than from the domain a user is visiting. Third-party cookies are a way for marketers to analyze online behavior by tracking our online movements and preferences, enabling them to do things like creating personalized ads. Ever wondered how your mobile started showings ads for new shoes as soon as you looked at new shoes, now you know.<\/p>\n

Google’s decision to join its competitors, Safari<\/a> and Firefox<\/a>, may soon end third-party cookies<\/strong>. With that in mind, brands will need to start thinking of new alternatives to gain insights about the customers. This is where advertisers can start utilizing web analytics methods, such as personas, to understand their potential customers.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s not a totally cookieless world, as first-party cookies will still be around!<\/p>\n

What are personas?<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Persona
This functionality enables the client to generate personas from his chosen data source (currently, following platforms are supported: YouTube, Facebook, Google Analytics). The client can choose between 5 and 15 personas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Personas are imaginary people that serve as a representation of a brand’s users, audiences, or customers based on real market research data. With personas, organizations get answers to questions such as: \u201cWho are the customers?\u201d \u201cWhat do they want?\u201d and \u201cWhat are their goals\/interests?\u201d etc. all presented in a manner that most people can relate to \u2013 another person!<\/p>\n

A typical persona profile will contain information like the user’s age, gender, location, topics of interest, etc. This information is then given a name and photo so that stakeholders can empathize with their customers by thinking of them as real people.<\/p>\n

Though the blocking of third-party cookies does not create issues with logging in on websites (which can be an issue after blocking first-party cookies). It will result in advertisers facing difficulties in identifying a user\u2019s behavioral attributes (preferred content). This may ultimately result in users receiving fewer ads, or worse, receive ads that pester users about something they would never want to purchase\/engage in.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one way to tackle the cookieless world. Do things the persona way!<\/p>\n