Last week in New York, Adweek hosted their annual conference to address some of the hot topics on the mind of marketers and agencies. One area of discussion was Digital Privacy and how to navigate this in an age of new regulation and uncertainty.
What do we know about Privacy Regulation as 2019 draws to a close?
General consensus is that there is still no clarity on what the emerging privacy regulations will mean for the future of digital advertising. We can analyze how GDPR affected Europe as a guide, but GDPR requires consent, while CCPA and other US State regulation only requires that consumers be given the option to opt-out.
But, there is general agreement that cleaning up data regulation is good for everyone because it will drive stronger relationships between marketers, publishers and consumers that are based on trust. Consumers will appreciate the transparency, as well as an improved digital experience. Consumers have indicated a willingness to trade their information if there is a benefit to them. For Publishers, having an authenticated user base will have more value and should improve CPMs. First-party data will be king.
Preparing for 2020 – Have a Data Governance Plan
The single most important thing for publishers right now is to have a data governance plan in place. Anyone who has not already started thinking about this is behind. Publishers need to understand what data they are collecting and how they are using it. And as we move into 2020, building on this so that collected data is labeled and for that label to follow the data as it moves through your site. Policies should be well articulated on your site. Because consumers care about digital privacy, marketers will, and ad dollars will be pushed to trusted sources.
The Universal ID
Among the participants and panelists, there is agreement that a Universal ID by a neutral entity would be extremely beneficial to consumers, marketers and publishers alike. There are a few consortiums out there but no full solution yet. DigiTrust, which was acquired by IAB Tech Lab in 2018 seems to be the most used at this juncture. There is a lot more work that the industry as a whole needs to do here. But working together, cooperating and unifying will be necessary to make anything work. It was noted that it will be particularly important for smaller publishers to unify and make sure their voice is represented. Lots more to come on this in the near future.
Or Get an App
Good App penetration is one answer to surviving a cookieless world. Having no free web content and sending users to get an App in order to access content is an alternative to a log-in wall or pay wall.
Contextual Targeting
More to come on this topic in 2020 as the industry looks for a replacement for the third-party cookie and a likely shift away from audience-based buying. A useful analysis from Adexchanger can be found here.
Predictions for 2020
- Measurement will be more complicated as consumers opt-out and there is a crackdown on 3rd party cookies
- Should be some expectation that consumers will opt-out
- 60% of users indicated they would
- Contextual targeting will make a comeback but the definition will shift and may mean different things to different people
- Aligning Creative to customer journey will be more important than ever
- Ad Spending will go up. Social Media Ads, PMPs and other deals where buyers know exactly what they are getting will help drive this.
Source: Lauren Fisher, Principal Analyst eMarketer
