Staying the Course on Online Privacy

Eric Sandberg Managing Director, Global Ad Solutions, Dynata

Google reverses course on deprecating third-party cookies. A reflection on what we learned over the last four and a half years.

First announced in January 2020, and after repeated delays, Google recently shared in a blog post that it won’t be “deprecating third-party cookies”. Instead, it’s “introducing a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.”

My initial response is similar to what many have said across our industry. The news doesn’t come as a surprise given that so far this year the IAB Tech Lab said, “The Chrome Privacy Sandbox is a time bomb that will break real-time bidding” (link here ), and the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered a pause based on ‘competition related concerns’.

After 55 months of deliberating, discussing, and working with other leaders in the pursuit of novel and innovative solutions, I wanted to reflect on what we can take away, and more importantly, what we should focus on going forward.

First, Google’s self-stated mission was on the importance of first-party data and the development of privacy-preserving technologies. Which I think all of us would agree is a necessary evolution in the digital advertising ecosystem given consumer sentiment and how the regulatory tradewinds are blowing.

Google’s decision to prioritize user choice and introduce new privacy controls is laudable if it helps foster trust and transparency with consumers. Google is likely taking cues from parts of the Apple playbook, and letting users make the decision versus unilaterally making the decision for them.

I see the July post from Google as welcome news. If the changes Google had been considering for the past 4 ½ years had gone into effect, I would share the same concerns voiced from the industry:

• Reduced ad targeting capabilities
• Loss of competitiveness for smaller publishers,
• Considerable infrastructure investment needed,
• Potential scale challenges pertaining to the measurement APIs native to the Privacy Sandbox.

What is Next for Advertisers and Measurement Providers

Given the continued uncertainty around 3rd party cookie deprecation and the legislative pressure to protect user privacy, advertisers and measurement providers need to continue to innovate on better ways to measure and track advertising. If Google decides to go to an opt in approach similar to Safari then firms could lose the ability to measure and track over 70% of ads running within Chrome.

Given the situation, firms should not feel that they have wasted years and millions of dollars in resources on solving a problem that just went away, but rather they should view the Google announcement as a rallying cry to continue to think of new and better ways to measure and track advertising. No longer are they constrained by the Google privacy sandbox tools and any of the tools that the industry has been building over the past 4 years can be used as the foundation of bigger and better industry wide solutions.

A few things marketer can be assured of as they continue to invest in measurement and tracking solutions:

• First Party Data Is Key While “cookies” will continue to be a key tool for marketers, first party data will be the future. A third-party cookie is just a technical way of sharing data and given how the regulatory winds are blowing, consent will be key. Firms need to view their first party data as the key to future proofing their advertising measurement and tracking solutions. They need to prioritize building a consented first party data approach that will enable them to use their own data to target, optimize and measure advertising campaigns.
• Data Partnerships Data partnerships will be an important way for firms to improve the accuracy and scale of their first party data. The ability to merge first party data sets together in a scalable way will enable marketers to get more utility from their data and platforms that enable these connections will be crucial. Whether you are working with industry leaders like LiveRamp or smaller providers such as Infosum, having a privacy-first strategy and approach to connecting your data sets with partners will be critical in the future.
• Future Proof Planning Given the everchanging advertising technology and regulatory landscape, marketers need to continue to innovate and plan for the worst and hope for the best. Future proof planning is critical to ensure you will be able to effectively measure and target your advertising in 2025 and beyond, now is the time to double down on your investment versus pulling back.

What’s old is new.

Did we ever forget the value of first-party data? Accurate and reliable insights, transparent consent, more personalized marketing strategies, and more engaging interactions with customers.

It’s another waypoint toward the destination of a “more private web”, but what we’ve learned on the journey so far is that first-party data is, was, and always will be an indispensable asset for marketers.

It’s a pleasure to be along for the ride.