The end of cookies is nigh, and advertisers and broadcasters should be aware, says to Nine Entertainment commercial director of digital sales Pippa Leary.

Speaking to B&T at Nine’s Addressability Launch breakfast, Leary warned advertisers of the dangers of failing to prepare for the oncoming “cookie apocalypse”.

For Leary, using cookies as a way of recognising a broadcaster’s audience is not only “incredibly bad” but opens up a business to potentially fraudulent behaviour.

Explaining the term “cookie apocalypse”, Leary said: “The cookie apocalypse makes reference to the fact that cookies are an incredibly bad way to measure your audience to target them.

“There’s so much cookie duplication and there’s so much fraud at that level,” she added.

“If you’re thinking from a holistic sense about any advertising ecosystem cookies are not a reliable way to measure, understand or target your audience.”

For Leary, addressability is the only answer, given its ability to reliably target audiences.

“Addressability is the only way forward because all over the world in each individual advertising ecosystem, discussions are underway about reliability and targeting.

“How do we radically reduce duplication and how do we find a more persistent and more accurate way of measuring targeting, understanding audiences?”

These are the conversations advertisers should be having and is “what the cookie apocalypse is all about,” added Leary.

“If you’re using cookies, your numbers aren’t as believable they’re not as real and not as accurate.”