{"id":1,"date":"2019-04-11T15:28:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T15:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.returntrue.com\/?p=1"},"modified":"2019-08-12T14:27:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T14:27:22","slug":"cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"First vs. third party cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<h3>Digital Analytics: First-\u00a0 vs. Third-Party Cookies<\/h3>\r\n<p>Tracking is based on cookies, which can be <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HTTP_cookie#Third-party_cookie\">first- or third-party cookies<\/a> &#8211; depending on which tracking provider and setup you choose. In contrast to Google, Adobe uses third-party cookies by default. Cookies are text-strings stored in your browser, which are used to identify users across devices. A common example in the digital analytics environment is the storage of the user&#8217;s Visitor ID in cookies. Because of increasing efforts towards consumer privacy, the rejection of third-party cookies is growing. Amongst other reasons, users often manually block or delete them. In addition to that, many anti-spyware applications and default privacy settings of modern browsers also block third-party cookies. As a result, a person will be counted as a new \u201cunique\u201d visitor with every subsequent visit, as Visitor ID cannot be stored when cookies are blocked. Contrary to third-party cookies, first-party cookies are blocked only by a low percentage of users, as a block of all cookies also cause a decreasing user experience on many websites.<\/p>\r\n<h3>Best Practice: Switch to First-Party Cookies in Adobe Analytics<\/h3>\r\n<p>Our recommendation is to switch your Adobe Analytics implementation from third- to first-party cookies whenever you can. Here are the steps to do so:<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>Fill out the <a href=\"https:\/\/marketing.adobe.com\/resources\/help\/en_US\/whitepapers\/first_party_cookies\/adobe_managed_cert_pgm.html\">FPC Request Form<\/a> and send it to Adobe Customer Care.<\/li>\r\n<li>Create a <a href=\"https:\/\/marketing.adobe.com\/resources\/help\/en_US\/whitepapers\/first_party_cookies\/fpcookies_cname.html\">CNAME<\/a> record for a third-level domain below your second-level domain. That&#8217;s your tracking server for https pages. For example, <em>smetrics.<\/em>returntrue.com.<\/li>\r\n<li>Create another CNAME record for insecure \/ non-https pages, e.g. <em>metrics.<\/em>returntrue.com.<\/li>\r\n<li>Inform Adobe Customer Care about the setup and see if your company requires any additional configuration.<\/li>\r\n<li>Ping the hostname to ensure the hostname is verified.<\/li>\r\n<li>All set! Now you can alter your implementation to point to your brand new first-party tracking servers.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h3>Changing the Implementation in Adobe Launch<\/h3>\r\n<p>If you&#8217;re using Adobe&#8217;s tag manager to track your website, here is how you change the tracking servers.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Log into Adobe Launch<\/li>\r\n<li>Open your property<\/li>\r\n<li>Navigate to <b>Extensions &gt; Adobe Analytics &gt; Configure Extension<\/b><\/li>\r\n<li>Change the <b>Tracking Server<\/b> with the non-https, and the <b>SSL Tracking Server<\/b> with the https CNAME entry. In our example, this would be metrics.returntrue.com and smetrics.returntrue.com.<\/li>\r\n<li>Put the changes into a Library and Publish.<\/li>\r\n<li>All set! You successfully changed your implementation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-79570 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1352\" height=\"890\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8.jpg 1352w, https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8-768x506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8-1024x674.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1352px) 100vw, 1352px\" \/><\/p>\r\n<h3>Changing the Implementation without Tag Managers<\/h3>\r\n<p>If you are not using any tag manager and you still have the old AppMeasurement.js (or s_code.js) on your website, here is how you change the implementation.<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Open your AppMeasurement.js or s_code.js file locally.<\/li>\r\n<li>Locate the variables s.trackingServer (non-https) and s.trackingServerSecure (https) and set them to your new data collection hostnames.<\/li>\r\n<li>Replace the updated core JavaScript file with the old version on your website.<\/li>\r\n<li>All set! You successfully changed your implementation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Pitfalls<\/h4>\r\n<p>If you move to first-party cookies from a long-standing implementation, Adobe recommends to set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/marketing.adobe.com\/resources\/help\/en_US\/sc\/implement\/visitor_migration.html\">Visitor Migration<\/a> with Adobe Client Care before you change the implementation. This prevents the old Visitor ID to be lost and stitches the new and legacy version together.<\/p>\r\n<p>If your setup is still based on third-party cookies, but a user only allows first-party cookies in the browser, Adobe included a fallback method in all code versions since H.25.3. If the visitor ID cookie is rejected, the code will set a first-party cookie using the site&#8217;s current domain. The new first-party cookie, s_fid, is created and set to a randomly generated unique ID with an expiration of two years. This visitor ID is only available on all pages of the current domain, excluding subdomains.<\/p>\r\n<p>If the s_fid fallback cookie fails, or if the user blocks all cookies including first-party, Adobe will use the backup method with a combination of IP address and user agent.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Digital Analytics: First-\u00a0 vs. Third-Party Cookies Tracking is based on cookies, which can be first- or third-party cookies &#8211; depending [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[155],"tags":[120,111,119],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Digital Analytics: First-\u00a0 vs. Third-Party Cookies Tracking is based on cookies, which can be first- or third-party cookies &#8211; depending [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-11T15:28:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-12T14:27:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/\",\"name\":\"First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-11T15:28:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-12T14:27:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/68e3a1e862d313c233705bec258867e6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First vs. third party cookies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/68e3a1e862d313c233705bec258867e6\",\"name\":\"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ae9150dbadf476b3d8444cc99c533b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ae9150dbadf476b3d8444cc99c533b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/author\/rtstefan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics","og_description":"Digital Analytics: First-\u00a0 vs. Third-Party Cookies Tracking is based on cookies, which can be first- or third-party cookies &#8211; depending [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/","og_site_name":"return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics","article_published_time":"2019-04-11T15:28:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-12T14:27:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Launch8.jpg"}],"author":"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/","name":"First vs. third party cookies - return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-04-11T15:28:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-12T14:27:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/68e3a1e862d313c233705bec258867e6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/2019\/04\/cookies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First vs. third party cookies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/","name":"return true; \/\/ Digital Analytics","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/68e3a1e862d313c233705bec258867e6","name":"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ae9150dbadf476b3d8444cc99c533b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ae9150dbadf476b3d8444cc99c533b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Stefan Sch\u00e4fer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/journal\/author\/rtstefan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.returntrue.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}