Winners and losers: Google reduces third-party data



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Google's decision to add more privacy tools to its Chrome browser, while reducing targeting based on cookies, is generating ripples in the world of ad-tech.

On Tuesday, Google announced that it would let consumers block and choose the way advertisers use third-party cookies to target them with ads. Google did not specify when these tools would be available, but it would limit how advertising technology companies use third-party data to serve ads. Specifically, Google will limit fingerprints, advertisers using information such as the location of the consumer or the device type to target them with ads, even if the consumer has chosen not to use tracking by third parties.

Google has also announced plans to deploy a browser extension to allow consumers to see the data used to serve ads to publishers' websites. The company also plans to include the browser extension in software that other advertising technology companies can use to inform consumers of information collected about them.

Depending on the number of people who adopt blocking by third parties, the changes could be a major blow to retargeting technology companies such as Criteo, Rubicon, and AdRoll.

Read more: Google is redefining the way it sells programmatic advertising, and some marketers are worried that the tech giant will steal more ad trading.

Chrome dominates the browser market with a share of about 60%, by Statcounter, against 15% for Safari. This means that Google's decision could be much more radical than similar changes made by Apple to Safari in 2017, said Jay Wells, senior director of strategy at Merkle.

"If the third-party tracking is obsolete on the browser, the programming sector must have a large amount of data to create its identity," he said Wednesday at a panel organized by the advertising technology company TripleLift. "It looks like 70% of the traffic is gone, the short-term winners will be [companies] who can create first-party data. "

Here's who's winning or losing Google's changes.

Facebook and Google

Naturally, Google has every interest in privileging proprietary data since it has its own data in its own search, email and video services that can be used for targeting ads.

His decision could also help other big tech companies like Facebook. Facebook and Google are often hit by advertisers who complain that the platforms are walled gardens in terms of storage and data sharing. With Google limiting the number of ad-tech companies that can run in Chrome, this decision suggests that walled gardens are not likely to be destroyed by advertisers.

In addition, Facebook has money to counter the regulations that advertising technology companies do not have.

"The more complex and expensive the regulation, the more it hurts small businesses, startups and less-funded businesses," said Wells.

Publishers with proprietary data

Under regulations such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the future California Consumer Protection Act, high-end publishers, including The Guardian, have focused on the protection of consumers. collection of personal data from readers rather than the use of third-party data from ad-tech companies. Such publishers could benefit if advertisers start buying directly from home as a result of Google's changes, Wells said.

Michael Balabanov, senior vice president of sales at The Guardian US, said advertisers might decide to run ads to consumers based on the articles they read.

But the first-party data is also limited in terms of targeting. In addition, less targeted ads are less expensive for advertisers. Since Apple made changes to third-party tracking, he said the cost per mile of the Guardian had dropped 40% for ads served on Safari browsers. He fears that the impact of Google is no longer important.

"If Chrome offered the same protections, it would be really worrying for many publishers," he said. "Buyers need to change the way they do things to adopt more contextual aspects."

Consumers

Google's changes reflect how regulation and privacy put pressure on Google to make it more transparent about how it uses data.

It's not clear to what extent consumers will look for Google's tools to change their preferences, but it could be a step in the right direction to help consumers understand how their data is being used.

"Our experience shows that people prefer ads that fit their needs and interests, but only if they offer transparency, choice and control," writes Prabhakar Raghavan, senior vice president of Google Ads and Commerce. "However, the digital advertising ecosystem can be complex and opaque, and many people do not think they have enough visibility or control over their web experience."

Advertising technology companies specialized in retargeting

Ad networks and companies specializing in cross-device advertising technologies, including Criteo, The Trade Desk and MediaMath, are among the biggest victims of Google's decision.

"They need to come up with Plan B quickly," said Matt Prohaska, CEO and Director of Prohaska Consulting, about retargeters.

In a statement to Bloomberg First Word, the French advertising technology company Criteo said it expected Google's changes to have a "neutral to potentially negative one-digit" impact.

Technology companies are working to solve the attribution

Joella Duncan, director of media strategy for consumer solutions for North America at Equifax, told Equifax's touch attribution companies that it uses to help marketers determine which of their ads generated a sale that would get less data, making their models less accurate.

Duncan has not named such vendors, but the Forrester research firm lists companies like Neustar, Analytic Partners, and IRI as examples of awarding companies.

Consumers, again

With less third-party data that advertisers could work with, Prohaska said consumers could see more spam ads that were less targeted than they were.

"The benefit of personalized content and monetization should override privacy concerns," he said. "There's going to be a pendulum move away from me …" And we'll have punch-the-monkey commercials and a lot of untargeted garbage – we do not need to go back to that . "

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