• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 24, 2023

Google will begin enabling its new privacy-focused APIs on Monday, with the goal of phasing out third-party cookies entirely by the third quarter in 2024.

The goal, since mid-July, is for the company to gradually begin enabling its Privacy Sandbox toolkit for Chrome developers, set to replace third-party tracking cookies with APIs and intended to preserve privacy.

The process will require several stages, but releasing the APIs is a significant milestone toward phasing out the cookies entirely.

The goal is to turn off third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users in the first quarter of 2024, and completely turn off third-party cookies by the third quarter in 2024.

There are new “relevance and measurement” APIs for Chrome 115 that include Topics API, which categorizes a user’s interests based on web use without sharing the information directly with advertisers.

It’s the thrill of continuous change that keeps some in the ad-technology industry excited about waking up in the morning.

Ryan Stewart, who took the lead in April as head of publisher acquisition in North America at MGID, says the elimination of cookies is one of the biggest challenge publishers will have this year.

“It’s old news, but if publishers focus on first- and second-party data, as well as contextual data, that’s the way to go,” he said.

The idea at MGID is to pinpoint local targeting options by articles rather than a website, Stewart said. For example, if a company starts in New York, expands into New Jersey, Virginia, and then Florida, it’s important to focus on local contextual targeting.

If sites like PlayMaker, a sports betting site, or YardBarker, a digital media property focused on publishing sports and entertainment news, run an article related to nutrition or even a type of health food, then MGID can serve up advertisements from brands related to vitamins or exercise equipment, he said.

By the start of August, Google aims to scale its API project to 60%, with the goal of enabling APIs for 99% of Chrome 115 browsers. It should happen around mid-August, about the same time that Chrome 116 is expected to become generally available.

Stewart likes the idea that ad tech continues to change quickly. “You might be caught up today, and then hours from now, Google changes something and you’re starting something new,” he said.

Earlier this year, MGID became the first ad platform to integrate with Google Web Stories for third-party partner support for Story Ads and provide publishers with direct access to this additional stream of revenue.

By supporting Story Ads, MGID allows mobile-focused publishers using its platform to deliver advertisements through tap-through stories, viewable in Google Search, Discover and Images.

Story Ads engage users with visual narratives, animations, and tappable interactions while increasing searchability for publishers and providing users with immersive, fast-loading, full-screen experiences. 

MGID continually changes, along with Google. In mid-July the company announced meeting the standards required to for ISO/IEC 27001 certification related to information security management.

As ongoing security regulation changes and increasing consumer expectations, providing assurances for consumers and clients that information security standards are being upheld is increasingly essential. Being awarded this ISO certification acknowledges MGID’s commitment to taking the appropriate measures to protect user information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, destruction, and any other form of unauthorized processing.