No surprise to most of us that Google has delayed the move away from cookies until late 2024. This is the second delay Google has announced, but this time it’s driven by industry feedback for more time to test Privacy Sandbox technologies, according to Anthony Chavez, Google’s VP of the Privacy Sandbox. Google will be expanding its trial of Privacy Sandbox technologies to more Chrome users, and gradually increase the trial population into 2023.
Not Time to Take Your Foot Off the Gas
This latest delay does not mean that advertisers and publishers should sit back. In fact, further dawdling could really set the industry back even more. Consumer privacy concerns are real and driving the need for change in our industry. We need to continue to work on solutions that allow for personalization and relevant targeting, regaining consumer trust, and using their data responsibly.
However, most industry players are grateful to have a little more time to find the right solutions. And there is general consensus that we need to use this time to continue to test and work towards a viable alternative solution. “Google’s decision to extend the timeline before phasing out third-party cookies is a welcome development for the industry that should help ensure a range of alternatives to third-party cookies that are technically robust and whose implementation has been thoroughly tested from a privacy compliance and commercial performance point of view,” said Townsend Feehan, chief executive officer at the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe, in the same blog post. “The scaling up of the origin trial for the Privacy Sandbox APIs is also an important step to enable meaningful testing of these new technologies by a variety of players.”
Establish Trust and Value
Rob Beeler said it best: “publishers must continue to build trust with their audience. We as an industry have to build trust amongst ourselves. We are judged by the weakest links in the chain and that doesn’t bode well for anyone. Don’t let Google hitting the pause button stop you from going in the right direction.”
- Future-proof your business by centering it around your users and building it on trust.
- Your content is valuable
- Communicate a clear value exchange for user data
- Consumers want to be engaged in relevant and meaningful conversations
- Once trust is established and 1st party data is shared, work with advertisers and agencies to run premium campaigns where privacy is protected (ID solution providers, clean rooms, etc)
- Keep building solid alternatives to the third-party cookie
The Role of AI
Contextual advertising is gaining traction as Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is now capable of analyzing a page’s written and visual content, accounting for tone and sentiment. AI also helps brands collect, analyze and use data for targeted ad campaigns. This makes AI an exciting solution for advertisers that will allow for a lot more flexibility, a greater pool of information, and personalized messaging.
Likewise, for publishers, AI capabilities provide data that will allow them to serve ads related to content and better cater to the interest of their readers. Combined with first-party data, insights from AI can help publishers grow ad revenue by ensuring a high-quality experience for their users and contextual targeting to lead advertisers to the right audience.
Conclusion
More time = more opportunity for publishers to continue to test the solutions that work best for their site and audience. Regardless of when Google actually kills the cookie, the publishers that have found viable alternatives will be the winners. For more insight on how to prepare your site, read our white paper on Data Preparedness. We’re always here to help and can share our experiences with the leading identity solutions and our (coming soon!) AI solution.
