Cookies are already gone. The budget has changed. All the rants about Chrome’s roadmap to deprecation are like the last soldier on the battlefield, clinging to the flag of a fallen nation. In short, it’s over.
But you can’t gauge cookie decline by looking at the bid stream. There are still a lot of cookie-based purchases being made. The old user sync system still plays pixel ping-pong with cookie-enabled browsers.
Mapping tables for SSP, DSP, DMP, and other XXP systems are updated with new users and updated IDs. It’s all still happening, but I’m planning on retiring.
The real indicators of the end are in feature releases, engineering budgets, and marketing messages. None of these signals indicate that third-party cookies are viable. No one builds or sells technology based on obsolete functionality.
Instead, investments are made in alternative identifiers such as ID-5, UID2, Lotame, and Audigent. While these signals are growing in popularity among media owners, SSPs, and DSPs, the future of cookies is bleak.
Cookie’s fall from grace
Look at companies like Criteo. The company built its business using third-party cookies. It was synonymous with retargeting. 2020 ushered in perhaps one of the biggest shifts away from 30 years of cookie technology. The move hasn’t been smooth, but four years later, Criteo is still working on it.
Apple took the first step in 2012 to restrict third-party cookies in Safari. Since then, cookies have gradually become demonized as a symbol of the privacy holes that pervade the open web.
In reality, there are other persistent data leaks or “distributions” that are quite different from tracking anonymized identifiers and targeting them with relevant advertising content, and are clearly harmful. But two demons like Apple and Google can’t stop the privacy and technology hype cycle.
Further uncertainty arose when Google announced it was removing cookies. Markets don’t like uncertainty. Hundreds of companies slowly began to pivot. As each deadline approached, the pivot accelerated.
No company currently focuses on cookies. Uncertainty prevailed to do what outright declarations could not. Our ecosystem has moved forward.
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Secure buy-in for promising alternatives
While the noise about signal loss continues to grow, so-called alternative IDs are finally starting to gain traction.
Companies track separate demand for each ID. They are receiving bids. It’s not just a few test bids or bids from boutique DSPs. These IDs have value in the public market and PMPs. Additionally, by leveraging the sales and marketing efforts of ID providers, we continue to provide publishers with audience-based demand.
However, these alternative identifiers must be proven in another way. Users must choose whether or not to be tracked. They need to understand the value exchange that is taking place.
We haven’t adequately educated media consumers that anonymized behavioral tracking can provide benefits, usually for free, in exchange for seeing more targeted, and therefore more helpful, ads. Privacy advocates are already making choices for people who don’t understand the options available to them. But some would argue that media owners and marketers do the same thing.
Alternative identities must also demonstrate value through partnerships. Simply onboarding data and targeting a few campaigns is not enough. The identity framework must be incorporated into the structure of the identity system. Additionally, vendors cannot expect advertisers to pay to opt-in. Then you won’t visit the market. It must be efficient and cheap.
While there are some basic legal requirements that each identity provider must adhere to, there are also opportunities to collaborate around codes of conduct and technical protocols. IAB Tech Lab has launched the Data Deletion Request Framework to process user requests. Involving thought leaders from identity providers in your working group is a good starting point.
Finally, identity providers must openly defend user privacy within their ecosystem and before privacy governing bodies. If we miss this opportunity, we will end up going down the same path that Cookie is currently on.
Similarly, the room with the platform also requires an identity provider. For now, this means working with Google’s Privacy Sandbox team, Apple’s team, and potentially Samsung, Roku, and more. If you have a difficult conversation, have it.
Now that we are freed from the shackles of cookies, we should welcome the opportunity to join in the advancement of identity.
Data-Driven Thinking is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas about the digital revolution in media.
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