• by Tom Chavez , July 2, 2013

There are many divergent views on the topic of consumer Web data collection. Some assert that it’s just how the Internet works and that there is nothing amiss with the data collection free-for-all we have seen across the Web these last few years. Others take an opposite but equally extreme position anchored in consumer rights and privacy -- asserting that all collection is categorically bad unless the consumer consents each and every time a tracking event occurs.

In fact, the mostly unfettered and responsible flow of data is critical to the continued growth and success of all Web-enabled enterprises. From a free-market perspective, we can all easily draw the line at bad actors who use questionable means to collect consumer data and when Web site operators are unwittingly pumped for data without compensation or consent. With that principle in mind, for the last three years, the Krux Cross-Industry Study has taken a look at data collection trends across the Web. In the first report, the term “data leakage” was coined, which helped the entire industry better understand the state of play at a time when much of the Web’s data economy was effectively a dark market. 

While that first report in 2011 exposed the true breadth of data collection activity on the Web, the second year chronicled its dramatic growth as the data market exploded hand-in-glove with real-time bidding (RTB). That second outing in 2012 also showed a very clear rush to quality, as data collectors purposefully targeted high-value users on specific contextual Web sites. This year, the scope was expanded, revealing three defining characteristics of the rapidly emerging data economy. 

1.  This isn’t just a publisher phenomenon; marketers face the same risks and opportunities.   This year’s report featured an expanded scope, going deeper into data collection activity on leading marketer and commerce Web sites. The findings indicated that commerce and marketer sites experience a similarly high proportion of third-party collection activity that is beyond their control -- 60 percent and 54 percent, respectively. The numbers don’t lie: like publishers, brand marketers are facing steep data collection risks and thus share an equal interest in responsibly safeguarding consumer Web data.

2.  The industry is taking data seriously.  As collectors become more savvy, Web operators have become more defensive.  There were two material incidences of reduction in data collection observed in this year’s report. The first was with content publishers themselves as the volume of data collection within their control dropped by nearly 40 percent. This is the result of efforts to clean up “orphan tags” -- to more closely control and monitor the actions of partners and minimize the flow of data from their pages in the interest of user experience, privacy and the bottom line. The second area of reduction was in the volume of collection by supply-side platforms (SSPs) and exchanges. The SSP category alone dropped more than 70 percent. There is a broader shift at play where these types of collectors are becoming increasingly reliant on cookie/tag-level frequency-capping and server-to-server cookie matching. 

3.  Players with the most data have the tiger by the tail.  It’s no accident that one in five collection events was conducted by a Google entity. Facebook represented almost one in 10 collection events, and as a category, social sharing saw 30 percent growth this year and an eightfold growth since the 2011 study. Two key factors explain this surge. First, players with widgets on third-party pages are using their privileged tag-on-page access to “phone home” as much first-party data as possible. Second, consistent with the overall zeitgeist of our industry, Web operators have zealously adopted social sharing as a means of growing reach and deepening audience engagement.

In all, the trends observed in the research point to the broader acknowledgement of the primacy of first-party data.  Collectors continue to harvest data from any Web destination that can shed light on the identity, interests or intent of the almighty consumer.