What is Cookieless Analytics? Examples with PlainSignal and GA4

Cookieless analytics

Analytics without cookies using privacy-first methods like first-party data and modeling, ensuring accurate insights while respecting user privacy.

Why Cookieless Analytics Matters

• Privacy regulations

  Global laws like GDPR, CCPA, and the ePrivacy Directive limit or prevent third-party cookies, pushing companies toward alternative tracking methods.

• Browser restrictions

  Major browsers such as Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies by default, and Chrome is planning similar measures, impacting traditional analytics.

• User trust and experience

  Avoiding cookies can enhance user trust and reduce consent banner friction, leading to better engagement and conversion rates.

How Cookieless Analytics Works

• First-party data collection

  Directly gathers user interactions via your domain, such as page views and events, without involving third-party domains. This maintains control and compliance.

• Privacy-preserving techniques

  Techniques like hashing, aggregation, and differential privacy ensure individual user data remains anonymous and secure.

• Server-side tagging

  Processes analytics data on your server before sending it to measurement platforms, reducing reliance on client-side cookies and trackers.

• Data modeling

  Applies statistical and machine learning models to fill gaps when direct measurements are unavailable, similar to GA4’s approach.

Examples of Cookie-Free Analytics Tools

• Plainsignal

  A lightweight, cookie-free analytics tool that provides simple traffic metrics and adheres to privacy regulations without cookies.

• Google analytics 4

  Google’s latest analytics platform that minimizes cookie dependency and uses machine learning to model user behavior when cookies are absent.

Implementation Example

• Plainsignal tracking code

  Embed the following snippet in your HTML to send events without cookies:

  <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
  <script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>
  

• Google analytics 4 snippet

  Example GA4 setup with IP anonymization and minimal cookies:

  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
  <script>
    window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
    function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}  
    gtag('js', new Date());
    gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX', { 'anonymize_ip': true });
  </script>
  

Benefits and Limitations

• Benefits

  Cookieless analytics offers enhanced privacy compliance, reduced dependence on browser policies, and improved user trust.

  • Privacy compliance:

    Automatically aligns with GDPR and CCPA by design, reducing legal overhead.

  • Future-proofing:

    Remains resilient against browser cookie blocks and deprecation plans.

  • User trust:

    Eliminates intrusive cookie banners, fostering a better user experience.

• Limitations

  Organizations may face trade-offs in data granularity, reliance on inference, and integration complexity.

  • Data granularity:

    Some fine-grained metrics may be unavailable without third-party cookies.

  • Modeling accuracy:

    Statistical inference can introduce estimation errors that need validation.

  • Implementation effort:

    Requires setup of server-side tagging or new SDKs, which can be complex.

Best Practices

• Combine with server-side tagging

  Use server-side endpoints to securely collect and forward analytics data, minimizing client-side dependencies.

• Leverage first-party context

  Customize tracking based on authenticated user sessions, enhancing accuracy without cookies.

• Monitor data quality

  Regularly validate modeled data against known benchmarks to ensure reliability.

• Stay informed on regulations

  Keep up-to-date with privacy laws to ensure continued compliance as regulations evolve.

Related terms