Issue #10 : Late March
It's a short and sweet update for Issue #10, but don't forget you can always check the back issues at www.poweredbyads.com if you are in need of more publisher news!
Thanks, as ever, to those who shared the last issue with friends. It was great to see a little bump in subscriber numbers as a result. The URL for anyone wanting to share this issue is www.poweredbyads.com/10/
In this issue...
(just scroll down and read the bits that interest you)
Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) to be retired next year... but you need to act now
Google will be retiring Universal Analytics, the version of Google Analytics almost everyone uses, on July 1st, 2023. Those with deep pockets can use Analytics 360 for just an additional 3 months. Although 5 Quarters seems like plenty of time to prepare for a switchover, publishers wanting to make year on year comparisons in their data after the change have less than 15 weeks to switch.
The snappily named replacement, Google Analytics 4, has been available to use for 2.5 years, but hasn't exactly been warmly embraced by site owners. It does offer a number of advantages though. One benfit that you won't see in most of the marketing copy is that it removes the reliance on IP addresses for identification. Given the recent rulings that shipping IP address information out of Europe to the US is illegal in many countries, this could be a factor in a timing of this announcement. More from the Big G here.
Prebid has its first full-time president and wants more publishers to get involved
Mike Racic, previously from Fandom, has become the first full-time president of Prebid. The role has historically been filled on a part-time basis by other members of the board. The move to having a full-time role comes as a result of growing member numbers and and a broadening remit as Prebid moves from being a Header Bidding tech company to being increasingly central in the identify space.
Racic clearly sees the benefit in getting publishers more involved in the Prebid community and has promised a 90 day focus on communicating the benefits to publishers. Membership starts at the bargain price of $0 for those actively involved, so why not?
Recommended by LinkedIn
Blockthrough shares data on ad block rates
Blockthrough, the Ad block mitigation folk, have just shared some interesting data on ad blocking rates in for different geos and verticals, and they contain a few surprises. For example, Arts & Entertainment having higher block rates than gaming (although gamers potentially using more aggressive blockers that are harder to detect could be a factor here).
The data unfortunately only gives us the "Top" 5 geos and verticals, but is still worth a quick look... come on Blockthrough... spill more tea. Read more here.
Meta fined $18.6 million for GDPR breaches
It might be a drop in the ocean for a company that generated a gobsmacking $33billion in ad revenue last quarter, but Meta's latest privacy related fine is still significant. Rather than relating to specific misuse of data, this latest fine is for for poor process and record keeping. In particular 12 charges that the Facebook owner failed "to have in place appropriate technical and organizational measures which would enable it to readily demonstrate the security measures that it implemented in practice to protect EU users' data". More here
No dumb questions
Have a question relating to Ads or Web Publishing and don't know who to ask? Ask it here without judgement. I'll pick out some interesting ones and either answer them myself or find someone who can.
Wrapping up
I'll be back with more updates for web publishers around the second week of April. If you spot a story you think should be included, don't forget to email me at mat@poweredbyads.com and let me know!