Training for the cookieless marathon

With all the fear mongering terms that have been used to describe the changes in identity, it’s refreshing to see more of our industry accurately frame it as the opportunity it represents.  A term we’ve seen this week was the “Cookieless marathon” – described by Lauren Fisher in her guest article in AdAge in which she talks about how buyers can prepare for this effort.

There were a few other interesting articles this week looking into how to prepare for the cookieless era.  Two worthy of a full read are “A cookieless world” from Duke Nguyen in The Drum, and our very own Leon Gurevich’s 3 key activities publishers can do to prepare for 2023.  There are a few resurfacing themes including:

• Identify & audit audience segmentation, targeting and measurement practices to find gaps that need filling now and when third party cookies go.
• Feed first party data strategies including partnering with those that can help you augment, enrich and extend first party data.
• First party data can form a basis of future proofing but we’ll need to invest in methods such as cohort modelling and contextual targeting for scalable options where identity isn’t available, and that’s why Carbon is taking a multi-faceted approach.
• Building relationships with buyers, publishers, audiences and platforms to increase efficiency and transparency, as well as seek new opportunities.  There’s already rising buyer demand for more direct relationships with publishers but – as Digiday suggests – buyers could work more with SSPs too.
• Measurement & campaign attribution will rely on methods such as clean rooms and similar solutions.

Ultimately by gaining a better understanding of audiences, publishers can build stronger relationships with their users (providing relevant content and experiences) and their buyers by offering more relevant audiences whether it’s through first party, contextual or other identity solutions.  The flexibility in identity solutions is one of the keys to future proofing which is why Carbon aims to be agnostic and interoperable.

Context and cohorts

Contextual targeting continues to get some well deserved exposure and recognition – but we’re talking about the AI powered and refined contextual technology and not the blunt tool from a few years back that Michael Schwalb calls your parents’ contextual targeting.  Part of the reason it’s getting exposure – other than the advancements that contextual has had in recent years – is that it’s already a future proofed method that avoids uncertainty that surrounds solutions such as the Privacy Sandbox.

“Advertisers and publishers have a window of opportunity to reinvent digital advertising toward a future where their first-party assets are valued, and where privacy and consumer trust are at the center.”

David Kohl, TrustX

A guest article in AdExchanger from David Kohl (CEO at TrustX) talks about the opportunity of context and cohorts grounded by publisher-driven audience segmentation enabled with consented first-party data.  Carbon’s long been committed to data science-driven automation within our features.  For instance, automated data categorisation that allows publishers to increase the quantity and quality of first party assets, mapped into a scored taxonomy built on IAB standards and layered with Carbon’s unique brand and keyword signals.

Inside Big Tech’s privacy mission

When it comes to the changes in identity and privacy regulations, the industry’s mantra is to engage.  Engage with your audience, your partners, and the market itself, including industry trade and regulatory groups like Prebid, IAB and the W3C.  Being heard is critical, but sometimes can be a challenge; an example of this struggle is covered in an article from Protocol talking about the inside workings of W3C’s meetings about privacy and data.  Carbon will continue to engage 💪

One of the key bits of advice that is constantly repeated in the media when it comes to identity and privacy changes is engage: Engage with your audience, your partners, and the market itself, including regulators.  Whether you engage yourself or through a supportive partner that is fighting for you – being heard is critical.

The W3C gets another mention in an AdExchanger article by Alan Chapell about the need for more transparency on Google’s plans that outlines how the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) should be delivering that transparency.  Chapell suggests seven areas where we need more information including the scope of the W3C in relation to the Privacy Sandbox and whether to ensure fairness Google should address all of the related concerns of the W3C.

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