The Lighthouse IT Podcast - January 29th, 2021
This week, Matt and Griffin discuss the upcoming death of the third-party cookie within Google Chrome and the concerns associated with that, some recent exploits in Apple's iOS (upgrade to 14.4 if you haven't already), the increase in identity fraud we are seeing, and why this Super Bowl may have some very weird commercials.
Listen here!
Security News
iPhone 14.4 Fixes Serious Exploits, So Get To It
If you are still rocking with something under iOS 14.4, then it'd be best to upgrade as soon as you can. Security researchers have found many expolts in WebKit, which is the browser engine that powers Safari, and the Kernel, which is the core to iPhone's operating system. Apple generally only tells people to update when they add some fun features to an update, so don't wait till they prompt you, get the update now.
Marketing News
AUSTRALIA Says It's Inevitable that Google Will Have to Pay For News
Australia's Treasurer said that Google (and other tech behemoths) will have to pay for using media content, responding to the internet giant's threat to disable its search engine in the country if it's forced to pay local publishers for news. Is this Australia trying to ensure News stays free and accessible to the masses? Or is this just another medium to tax?
Is the Death of Third-Party Cookies a Threat to Digital Marketing?
First off, what is the difference between First-party cookies and Third-party cookies?
- First-party cookies are stored by the domain (website) you are visiting directly. They allow website owners to collect analytics data, remember language settings, and perform other useful functions that help provide a good user experience.
- Third-party cookies are created by domains other than the one you are visiting directly, hence the name third-party. They are used for cross-site tracking, retargeting and ad-serving.
So considering that the rules around First-Party cookies won't be changed, this really only affects those who are tracking across site-to-site. Utilizing cookies on your own site will certainly be fine, but if you rely on using things like targeted advertisements to sell, say your company's products, you may need to consider alternatives or work-arounds by the end of 2021.
SUPER BOWL LV may have some interesting commercials
With the cost of Super Bowl ads starting at a pretty low number this year, smaller companies were able to get in and reserve some time-slots. This means that we may be seeing companies who have never advertised on such a large medium. Fiverr (the Freelance Service Marketplace) for example got in for cheap. Frito Lay on the other hand, got three time slots. Will they have have Chester Cheeto monolog for a minute and 30 seconds? We can only hope.