Though cookies will quickly be off the menu and cellular identifiers are beneath fireplace, advertisers are taking their candy time to prepare dinner up alternate options.
The advert business has its causes for procrastinating. Google’s choice to delay the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome till 2023, coupled with the continued availability of cellular advert IDs on Android, has been an invite for advertisers to embrace the established order.
Two-thirds of entrepreneurs say they’ve hit pause on actively transitioning from third-party identifiers, in keeping with a brand new survey from Advertiser Perceptions, which polled 153 advertisers and businesses within the US between mid-November and mid-December 15 on their plans for figuring out and measuring audiences within the wake of sign loss.
The primary time Advertiser Perceptions did this examine in Might 2021, it was earlier than the launch of Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework and earlier than Google had introduced its third-party cookie deadline extension.
“There was a way of urgency,” mentioned John Bishop, a VP of enterprise intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
This time round, most advertisers say they’re not speeding to switch third-party cookies or discover different focusing on strategies for in-app environments.
However not everybody has their head buried within the sand.
Some advertisers are actively testing a number of substitute ID options from Google, Apple, LiveRamp, Yahoo and others.
And though third-party cookies stay the most well-liked methodology for focusing on and measurement for now, a rising variety of advertisers declare they’re abandoning utilizing third-party cookies altogether.
Present state of measurement
Eighty-eight p.c of advertisers say they at present use third-party cookies – which is a heck of loads. However that’s down from the 97% who reported utilizing cookies the primary time Advertiser Perceptions did this survey in Might.
“Though that could be a statistically vital lower, about 9 in 10 are nonetheless utilizing third-party cookies,” mentioned Nicole Perrin, a VP of enterprise intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
Nonetheless, an almost 10-point drop over a six-month span within the variety of advertisers that report counting on third-party cookies runs counter to the oft-repeated business narrative that advertisers will stay all-in on cookies till they disappear from the bidstream, Perrin mentioned.
“Cookies are nonetheless there, but we’re seeing a significant pullback in reliance on them,” she mentioned.
From one perspective, the continued widespread use of cookie-based ID options means that advertisers are dedicated to the outdated methods of doing issues. However it’s additionally probably some advertisers are testing the effectiveness of recent ID options in opposition to the tried-and-true cookie, mentioned Lauren Fisher, GM of enterprise intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
First-party knowledge was the second-most-popular mechanism to determine and measure audiences, proper behind third-party cookies. Eighty-two p.c of advertisers agreed they use first-party knowledge like logins, e mail addresses and recognized person knowledge. Forty-two p.c reported utilizing second-party knowledge.
In a separate survey query, 70% of advertisers reported utilizing their very own first-party knowledge.
(The discrepancy between these figures might replicate ambiguity as to what constitutes first-party knowledge vs. second-party knowledge. From an advertiser perspective, writer first-party knowledge would technically be second-party knowledge, however some advertisers should seek advice from it as first-party knowledge.)
Over on cellular, almost half (49%) are nonetheless utilizing IDFA – once they can get consent, that’s – and 41% are nonetheless utilizing the Google Advert ID on Android, which continues to be accessible, no less than for now. With the discharge of the Android Privateness Sandbox, the writing is on the wall for Google’s advert ID, and don’t be shocked whether it is phased out inside the subsequent two years a la third-party cookies in Chrome.
Advert efficiency agita
Though advertisers are largely going about their enterprise as standard, there may be concern concerning the short- and long-term results of sign loss.
Eighty-one p.c of advertisers say they’re frightened about how being unable to entry third-party identifiers will have an effect on their enterprise.
General, advertisers predict the phaseout of third-party cookies will end in a 17% discount in advert efficiency. Though that will be a big drop, it’s a much less pessimistic prediction than the 27% lower in advert effectiveness respondents anticipated when Advertiser Perceptions did its ballot in Might.
Nonetheless, demand-side platforms ought to take discover.
Half of the advertisers Advertiser Perceptions spoke with mentioned they might change DSP companions because of a 20% or larger drop in advert efficiency.
Alternatives
When requested to rank their high standards for partnerships to deal with identifier phaseouts, advertisers cited interoperability, ease of implementation and technical help, in that order (though the share cut up between these was negligible).
DSPs with their very own in-house ID options might stand to money in.
Sixty-seven p.c of respondents mentioned they might shift some advert spend away from DSPs that don’t provide one-to-one focusing on and towards DSPs that do – down from the 77% in Might who mentioned they might prioritize working with DSPs that supply one-to-one focusing on.
Advertiser Perceptions tied that drop to the reemergence of contextual and the evolution of cohort-based options.
“Advertisers are nonetheless closely invested in first-party knowledge,” Fisher mentioned, “however they’re additionally now migrating towards contextual and cohort-based, privacy-preserving approaches versus preserving one-to-one focusing on and measurement.”
