Privacy & Identity: Why It Matters

Why it matters — In the world of privacy, what’s changing for us is the need to change. By understanding the buyer journey, they will spend more money, and everyone in the ad-serving process will be happy. In an internal study, TripleLift found that more than two-thirds of global buyers use brand metrics, engagement KPIs, and ad formats as their initial buying filters. Yet, 36-44% of advertisers stated effective targeting mattered most concerning the impact on ad receptivity and KPIs. So, with third-party cookies disappearing, do publishers have the right tools to meet advertiser demands, such as gathering performance data and accurate targeting capabilities?

Why it matters — There are various opportunities for publishers to jump at in 2023. We might be in for a reset come Q1, but leveraging data is the best way to achieve revenue goals in 2023.

Why it matters — For advertisers looking to stay on top of the trends, we’ll outline some top areas to focus on in the coming year — from AI to privacy and everything in between.

Why it matters — AI-powered data clean rooms are putting advertisers in control of their first-party data for more accurate audience reach. With the continued deprecation of third-party cookies, advertisers need new ways to reach Safari and Firefox users in a privacy-compliant manner. Simultaneously, they need to improve their outcomes. AI-powered data clean rooms are a technology that advertisers can use to improve their targeting and prospecting. Data clean rooms powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are a new way to solve for data modeling needs to improve advertiser business objectives. This article explains how this technology works and how advertisers can take advantage.

Why it matters — The industry is abuzz with dialogue around addressability in a world without third-party cookies. The end of third-party cookies is merely the tip of the iceberg. This means simply replacing the third-party cookie with alternative cross-domain solutions is not the ultimate solution in the long term. Instead, advertisers need to delve deeper into the power of first-party data. Why? So they can work with their supply partners now, to experiment with and implement the changes necessary to prepare for a future without third-party cookies. And for the most part, advertisers still aren’t prepared: According to research conducted by TripleLift in partnership with AdAge, there’s distinct overconfidence among marketers that signals an industry-wide lack of preparedness. 84% of marketers were aware that change was coming. But 71% didn't feel the death of third-party cookies would significantly impact their digital ad purchasing behavior. The result? An action gap can be seen in the 69% that have yet to implement solutions.

Why it matters — While Google has pushed back third-party cookie deprecation another year, finding viable solutions to address the industry’s needs in a post-third-party cookie world remains critical. But while some attention to cross-domain ID solutions may be warranted, it’s crucial to remember that the third-party cookie itself is a cross-domain identifier—and ultimately, it was this cross-domain characteristic that put third-party cookies in regulators’ crosshairs in the first place. Thus, the industry must continue experimenting with other solutions using opportunities such as the third-party cookieless environments that already exist in browsers like Safari and Firefox. In many ways, HEM and fingerprinting look like the logical heirs-apparent to the throne previously occupied by the third-party cookie: After all, they are both cookie-free solutions that can potentially enable marketers to keep doing many of the things that worked for them when the third-party cookie was king. But despite their apparent benefits, HEM and fingerprinting are problematic in ways that cast grave doubts on either ID solution’s ability to dominate a cookieless world.