Privacy & Identity: Why It Matters

Why it matters — As third-party cookies are deprecated, advertisers need to explore alternative ways to purchase high-quality ad space. Contextual advertising is evolving with new opportunities for ad buyers to achieve an improved ROI. This isn’t the old-school contextual advertising where ads are simply matched to relevant content. In this new approach, buyers can use user behavior and engagement metrics to improve relevance. For ad buyers to blend this new approach with future media plans, they must understand the new capabilities and how to evaluate them.

Why it matters — A trusted intermediary with a privacy gatekeeping function that sits between a device and ad tech buyers could be a game changer for publishers in a post-third-party-cookie world. As the industry debates the road ahead, incorporating the option of a Trusted Audience Server into the current version of Google Chrome’s FLEDGE proposal could produce significant upsides for multiple stakeholders. For example, auctions could be run on this trusted server rather than in the browser, and audience segments could also be stored on this server.

Why it matters — Because advertising requires cross-context activity, measuring effectiveness requires both contexts to contribute data in order to understand whether an ad was effective. But without third-party cookies traveling with the user from one domain to another, the browser infrastructure to measure ad effectiveness is no longer. The good news, measuring ad effectiveness is still possible without third-party cookies. It just looks a little different.

Why it matters — "Do Not Track" (DNT) seemed like an easy solution that the industry and regulators could agree on and implement. However, the details and competing commercial interests were complicated, and eventually, after much hand-wringing, the solution was abandoned in 2015 by browsers, the ad industry, and trade organizations alike. Yet, similar conversations are happening now around data use, user consent, and where control for both should sit. If we look back at the lessons of DNT, it helps to inform the industry's issues and solutions being proposed today.

Why it matters — CHIPS offers the technical integration of third-party cookies but with the privacy protections of site-scoped access to data. This lets first parties work with vendors to manage their first-party data with reduced data leakage risk. But how do they work, and when should we ask for a side of CHIPS?

Why it matters — ID Solutions are the hot topic in digital advertising in preparation for third-party cookies deprecation. Learn about their limitations so you can consider a portfolio-based approach that addresses the gaps they leave.