TLDR: Third-party cookies died in 2020 when Apple killed them on iOS. COVID spending masked the damage. The bigger issue: iOS 14.5 auto-deletes first-party cookies after 7 days. Most brands run Conversion APIs blindly. The fix is owning your identity layer and becoming the source of truth for your customer data. Signal loss is already here.
Our Founder & CEO Mandar Shinde recently sat down with Aaron Conant "The Digital Deep Dive” podcast to discuss the real state of customer data. Here are the key moments from their conversation.
While Google has officially abandoned its plans to deprecate third-party cookies, Mandar shared an insight that reframes the entire discussion: third-party cookies effectively died in 2020 when Apple eliminated them across all browsers on iOS devices.
"The reason none of us saw that cookies had been deprecated in 2020 is COVID happened," he told Aaron. "Government spending masked the impact as consumers flooded online channels."
The Real Problem Hiding in Plain Sight
Here's where the conversation got interesting. Mandar explained that Apple's iOS 14.5 update quietly introduced something far more damaging than third-party cookie loss: first-party cookies now auto-delete after seven days of inactivity.
Think about what that means. A customer visits your site, browses around, maybe adds something to cart. They come back eight days later to complete their purchase, and your site treats them like a complete stranger.
"Your prospecting's screwed, your lifecycle marketing's screwed, everything is screwed," Mandar said, and honestly, it's hard to argue with that assessment.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Attribution
The conversation shifted to attribution, where Mandar shared a stat that made us pause: less than 2% of marketers understand why they need Conversion APIs or how to measure their effectiveness.
That's... concerning.
Platforms like Meta and Google have essentially told advertisers: "Here, you collect and send us your data through these APIs." But most brands are implementing them blindly, hoping they work without really understanding the why or how.
"Advertisers are now forced to take charge of their data because if they don't, they're about to die fast," Mandar explained. It's the biggest infrastructure shift since digital marketing began, and most people are still figuring out what happened.
Three Things That Actually Matter
When Aaron pressed him on solutions, Mandar outlined what he sees as the essential components:
- Persistent identity collection: Capturing customer data at the source before it gets lost
- Unified data organization: Actually connecting all your marketing touchpoints
- Real-time API distribution: Feeding clean data back to advertising platforms
"Brands need to become the source of truth for their customer data," he said, and added, "Moving from passive recipients to active data orchestrators."
The Future of Trust: Brands Establishing Themselves as Data Authorities
What struck us about this conversation wasn't just the problem diagnosis—it was Mandar's perspective on the opportunity. While Google's recent decision to maintain third-party cookie support might seem like a reprieve, the underlying data collection challenges remain unchanged for brands serious about sustainable growth.
Early adopters are building something better: true ownership of their customer relationships. Better data quality. Improved personalization. Reduced dependence on platform whims.
"The signal loss era isn't coming—it's here," Mandar concluded.
"Brands that act now will thrive; those waiting for the next platform policy change may find themselves too late to catch up."
The full conversation covers lifecycle marketing, customer lifetime value, and the evolving landscape of customer data.
Listen to the complete episode here.
