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Mastering Website Personalization in the Cookieless Age

Eleanor Hecks

Personalization has become essential for businesses. Customers expect experiences that reflect their needs and preferences. However, as institutions and consumers shirk off third-party cookies and become more privacy-conscious, marketers must find ways to stay relevant without crossing privacy lines.

What Is Cookieless Personalization?

Cookies are ubiquitous online. These small files collect user information and browsing behavior to help websites deliver features or personalize content. As of October 2025, 40.3% of websites use cookies to some degree to enhance personalization or functionality.

Personalization helps deliver positive customer experiences. Research shows that around 72% of consumers will only engage with a message if the brand has personalized it, so many websites use cookies to achieve this goal.

However, some brands are veering away from cookies. Cookieless personalization means delivering tailored content, offers or experiences without relying on third-party cookies. This approach helps maintain relevance without crossing privacy boundaries.

Are Cookies Going Away?

For years, Google has publicized its plan to completely phase out third-party cookies in Chrome to focus on a more privacy-oriented customer experience. This plan was supposed to come to fruition in 2024, but Google backtracked and decided to keep cookies functional, which came as a reprieve for many marketers.

Cookies still work as usual — marketers can still put them on their websites and users can choose whether they want to allow cookies while browsing the internet. However, Google is still working toward an alternative, which means businesses will need to find ways to personalize without entirely relying on third-party cookies.

Why Marketers Should Adapt to Cookieless Strategies

Adapting to cookieless personalization is a strategic move that brings several benefits across multiple areas.

Compliance With Data Privacy Regulations

Consumers are becoming more privacy-conscious. Frameworks, like the California Consumer Privacy Act and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, help customers gain better control over their information.

Adopting cookieless personalization helps ensure transparency and consent from the start. Users know what data they share and how brands will use it. This clarity builds trust and ensures compliance.

Improved Customer Experience

Users want personalization, not surveillance. Many already feel that some ads seem like brands are listening in on conversations, which raises concerns around privacy. Hyper-personalized ads can even negatively impact perceptions toward a brand.

Cookieless strategies help you focus on relevance, allowing customers to feel seen and encouraging them to engage with your brand and buy your products. Personalizing experiences within your own platforms, like a website or app, feels more helpful and relevant.

Future-Proof Marketing Approaches

Although Google has retracted its initial plan to phase out third-party cookies, it is still working toward an alternative. Many groups and government leaders are also calling for an internet that values privacy and consent, especially in advertising. Relying completely on cookies to personalize your marketing and ad campaigns might affect your future visibility.

Transitioning to a cookieless approach allows you to build foundations that will sustain your marketing strategies for years. When browsers change their policies or new laws are passed, your system can remain compliant and resilient.

4 Ways to Personalize Without Cookies

There are several ways to personalize marketing and online experiences while also respecting user privacy and consent.

1. Zero-Party Data

Zero-party data refers to information that customers intentionally share with you. An example would be a user’s answers to a survey, which can include their name, location and preferences. They volunteer this information, making it a compliant and valuable resource for personalization.

2. First-Party Data

First-party data is a step after zero-party information. It comes from interactions that happen directly with your brand. For example, it can include a user’s purchase history, browsing behavior or interactions with customer support.

3. Contextual Advertising

As the name suggests, contextual personalization focuses on the environment or context. What is a visitor doing or seeing at the moment? You can inform your approach using factors like keywords, the website’s theme or the content language. This can help you make relevant recommendations without tracking a person’s identity.

4. Email Marketing

Global email marketing revenue was projected to reach over $9.5 billion in 2024. Email is one of the most reliable and effective methods for delivering personalized marketing messages because it is mostly consent-based. People give you their email address directly, usually in exchange for a resource or service. They can also unsubscribe at any time, giving them more control.

Redefining Personalization

The absence of cookies brings an opportunity to rethink how your brand connects with customers. Personalization can be possible and more powerful when done with consent, transparency and intention. By embracing these principles, brands can forge stronger, more meaningful relationships with their customers, built on respect and trust.