As you may know, cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device during a user's browsing session.
These first-party cookies as well as third-party cookies are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.
The Facebook Pixel And Cookies?
The Facebook pixel is a small snippet of javascript code that marketers place on their website so that they can track visitors.
When you visit a website that sells shoes and you add a pair of shoes to your shopping cart but do not purchase them, you may see an ad for that same pair of shoes on Facebook later.
This occurs because of the Facebook pixel, which can add tracking cookies to web browsers.
Facebook pixels provide a way for website owners to measure, optimize and build custom audiences for their advertising campaigns.
To set up and make sure your Facebook pixel is working you can visit the events manager.
What Type Of Cookies Exist
There are three different types of cookies.
The difference between the three cookies is who owns the cookie.
First Party Cookies
First-party cookie data is installed and owned by the domain you are visiting.
The data collected is then used to make the site run more efficiently.
An easy example of a first-party cookie is a user's browser that remembers that you logged in or that remembers your site settings.
Third-Party Cookies
Third-party cookies are owned by other online platforms but installed by the domain owner.
For example, if you visit a website that has a Facebook-like button, a cookie may be placed on a device by Facebook after the user clicks the like button.
These cookies then share data collected from your site with the third-party cookie provider, to help you better optimize your business.
Second Party Cookies
Second-party cookies can be defined as first-party cookie data that is shared between partners.
As a rule of thumb, first-party cookies are generally more accepted and stored on web browsers for a longer period compared to second and third-party cookies.
Is Facebook First Party Or Third Party?
To answer this question we need to first briefly cover another company... Apple.
Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention, Preventing Advertisers From Tracking Visitors
To preserve user privacy companies like Apple have been enacting privacy rules to prevent their users from being tracked around the web as well as to provide a framework for how tracking would occur.
The goal of Apple's ITP is for analytics purposes and to allow advertisers to have ad attribution across devices.
In the past few years, Apple has changed its relationship with third-party cookie providers.
The goal of this change with Apple's ITP is to provide more privacy for its users, by restricting the length that cookies can keep their cookie data on a user's device.
This is bad news for advertisers, who no longer have a complete data set to build audiences with.
In response, Facebook has updated its cookie pixel to change it from being a third-party to a first-party pixel.
Facebook's First-Party Cookies
To get around the changes to tracking by Apple. Facebook changed the Facebook pixel from providing third-party cookies to first-party cookies.
Facebook does this by making the first-party cookie look like it's coming from your site.
If you have already installed your Facebook pixel, don't worry the default option for your Facebook pixel is first-party.
You can always switch back to third-party cookies by going to the events manager.
What Is Facebook's Cookie Policy?
The first option and the default is: Advertising and analytics.
By keeping this option as is you can use the Facebook pixel to create custom audiences, for ad targeting, optimization, as well as analytics.
The second option is: Analytics only
I wouldn't recommend this setting, but if you choose to switch to this you cannot use the Facebook pixel to help you with campaign creation. Only for ad reporting.
Don't Track Me: Block First-Party Cookies As Well As Third-Party Cookies
If you are worried about various companies tracking you, you can block some of the tracking data from being collected.
Adjust How Facebook Ads Are Shown To You
If you don't want to see ads from a specific company, you can adjust your ad preferences.
You can find your ad preferences here:
From here you can control the types of ads you see.
Block From Your Web Browser
If you are concerned about Facebook tracking your web activity, you can block the Facebook pixel by enabling the "Do Not Track" setting in your web browser.
You can also delete cookies that have already been placed on your device by going to the "Settings" > "Advanced" > "Content Settings" > "Cookies" section of your Chrome browser.
Third-Party Cookie Blockers
There are also several third-party cookie blockers that you can install to help prevent cookies from being placed on your device.
One example is the Ad Block extension for Chrome, which blocks cookies from third-party sites that track your web activity without your consent.
What Does This Mean For Facebook And It's Advertisers
The changes to Facebook's pixel and cookie settings and the introduction of ITP will likely have a significant impact on Facebook's business.
Advertisers will no longer be able to track users across the web who opt out of tracking/block cookies. making it more difficult to show them targeted ads.
These changes could lead to a decrease in ad revenue for Facebook, as well as a loss of data that the company uses to improve its products and services.
One thing we can count on is the battle for user data continuing as Facebook looks to collect as much data as possible for its advertisers.
If you have any questions about Facebook's first-party cookie policy or how to get started with the Facebook pixel, you can book a call with me below or read our guide on installing the Facebook pixel.
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