With more delays than a subway station at rush hour, Google’s sunsetting of third-party cookies has turned into a fiasco peppered with frustration. Yet amidst the turmoil there is some relief. James Colborn, VP of Global Data, Teads explains more, and outlines why the industry needs to think beyond Google’s solutions.
When Google announced another delay to the deprecation of the third-party cookie, the first thing I did was walk over to our Head of Creative Studio and ask, “Do you have any intern jobs I could do as I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to say the word cookieless for another 6 months!” My request was declined – citing my skills lay “elsewhere” – but you can understand my plea as by the time we finally deprecate the cookie it’ll be over 8 years since we started discussing a world without cookies.
All jokes aside, as an industry, we’re tired of the dialogue. This latest (arguably expected) delay from Google has been met with a very different response than the last. While some articles discuss the ‘relief’ that some feel by being given more time, the reality is that frustration is creeping in. With a firmer position on timing from Google last time around, some companies had started decommissioning cookie-based solutions or spending great sums of money on building and now marketing their cookieless alternatives, only to find they are, once again, premature in their approach. Even more alarming is that some now wonder if cookie deprecation will ever happen or if cookies will exist in perpetuity.
But let’s ask the question; are we really frustrated or quietly relieved? In all honesty, I believe we are both and almost admitting as an industry that we’re woefully underprepared is making the delays to cookie deprecation even more frustrating as the consequence of getting prepared keeps getting delayed. We’re stuck in a cycle of ‘hurry up and wait’.
When I say woefully underprepared, I’m not exaggerating and to illustrate, let me use the most sophisticated market in the world as it relates to digital advertising; America. Despite talking about cookie deprecation for 7 years, the majority of programmatic spending in the US is still totally reliant on third-party cookies. In a recent report from 33Across, except Retail, all other verticals are spending under 20% of their programmatic spend on cookie alternatives. Seems legit, especially with third-party cookies still alive and well, however, if you are consuming content on your phone, in the US, the number of impressions served without cookies is 64%. This means 80% of programmatic budgets are being spent in only 36% of available inventory driven by a resistance to change from industry personnel and arguably a lack of necessary technological updates from tech providers.
Publishers are equally ill-prepared with only 32% of survey publishers reporting they are preparing for a cookieless future. Furthermore, over half are overwhelmed with the sheer choice of alternatives and only under a third feel confident in understanding the new landscape.
So, Google is going to fix the industry’s lack of readiness and solve all the problems associated with third-party cookies, right? Of course not, but it feels that all eyes are on Google to solve the industry’s lack of preparedness and, looking at some of the assessments of the Sandbox’s readiness, replace the cookie one for one.
I know I’m approaching this article from someone whose inventory is predominantly mobile and on desktop, Google’s Chrome share is significantly higher, however, let’s face facts. Firstly, Google can only influence Chrome, secondly, Apple is the instigator of cookie deprecation and on mobile has a significantly greater market share in some markets. Thirdly, and most importantly, the cookie is being removed to protect consumer privacy, and a one-to-one solution may NEVER be possible.
Now Google does have a commitment to the industry to help solve the issue and to the CMA in the UK to deliver alternatives. So far, in testing, these have yielded varying levels of performance. While positive performance has seldom been reported, the doom spiral of poor yield for publishers and lack of advertiser performance has resulted in negative press and growing cynicism. Still, arguably, the point of testing is to get it tested and improved before switching off the alternative.
The reality is that Privacy Sandbox APIs will be ingredients in aggregate solutions built by tech companies looking to solve the entire industry ecosystem challenge of cookieless and not just cookieless on Chrome. I don’t think anyone expects Google’s APIs to be a one-to-one replacement for the cookie. If they do, I believe they’ll be both disappointed and missing the bigger picture, which is that cookie deprecation impacts every impression on every browser and not just Chrome.
This latest delay from Google is to allow more time for testing and getting the Sandbox working as well as it can. The question remains though; when will results be ‘good enough’ to pass the scrutiny of bodies like the CMA? Marketing isn’t an exact science and if consumer privacy measures prevent matching cookie-based solutions to exacting standards then what level of functionality will be acceptable?
As Google’s Privacy Sandbox is just a component in a portfolio approach of different cookieless alternatives, the only thing left to say is to suggest that the industry needs to think well beyond Google’s solutions. Despite the question of whether it will happen, I firmly believe that third-party cookies will be deprecated on Chrome. Hence, it’s upon us to find aggregate solutions that solve for all impressions that let’s not forget, are already globally 40% cookieless and in some markets well 65% or greater.
James Colborn,
VP of Global Data, Teads
James Colborn is a data leader with over 20 years of experience in the digital advertising industry. He is currently the Global VP of Data at Teads, where he leads a team of data experts implementing data-driven solutions for the company’s advertising partners. The current and most pressing focus for James is ensuring a smooth transition for Teads’ advertising and publishing partners through the cookieless transition. Prior to joining Teads, James held senior roles at Microsoft, Verizon, AOL, and Yahoo. James is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and is a Chartered Marketer. Outside of work, James enjoys racing cars, cooking, and traveling.
