Google recently announced that they are going forward with their plan to block third-party cookie tracking through Google Chrome (Chrome commands 63% of browser market share). What this means exactly for hotels is not totally clear. Mostly what will be affecting is tracking the source of revenue on a hotel's website (also called attribution) and the possibility to re-target visitors to your website (unless you use Google's retargeting ad products). To avoid users getting hit with totally irrelevant ads, like billboards on the highway, Google is creating a new system to target users which involves less tracking. Called FLoC the system essentially groups people into categories based on their behavior and puts a label on top so they can get served ads based on those labels without having any personal information connected. However, it only works if you advertise with Google, which means they are building a taller wall around their garden - an odd choice as they enter a long anti-trust investigation process. But what does this mean for hotel marketing? How will hotels track revenue? Since most non-major brand hotels have two domains (website + booking engine) how will this affect tracking?

Tim Peter
Tim Peter
Founder & President, Tim Peter & Associates

Let's talk about what Google phasing out third-party cookies isn't. It's not the death of marketing. It's not the death of advertising. Most importantly, it's not the death of your hotel. Apple's Safari, often the most common mobile browser used by guests, has been blocking third-party cookies for a while. Hotel marketers and agencies updated tracking codes on websites and booking engines, then moved on. Yes, Google's Chrome is the most common web browser; this is a bit of a bother. But it's not tragic. 

What's more of a concern are the various proposals for how advertising platforms (Google and Facebook most prominent among them) will track user engagement with ads going forward (which may make it harder to measure the effectiveness of your marketing spend) and what data they will make available to you (less than you're used to, which may also make it harder to measure the effectiveness...). 

So, yes, it's a challenge. But for most hotel marketers, it's also just more of where you already are today. Google (and Facebook for that matter) have always had lots more data about potential customers than you do. The (data) rich will end up richer; the (data) poor may end up poorer. 

Instead of worrying about cookies, why not think about what you want to do about where we are and where we're heading? Less data from ad platforms makes your email list, your CRM, your guest reviews -- the data you do have -- more valuable, and more important for you to use to your advantage. You must work with your agency to develop strategies for how you can continue to measure the effectiveness of your ad spend appropriately. But also focus on how you can make your existing data work harder going forward to ensure you're not left without cookies... or crumbs. 

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