• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 29, 2024

It has been a difficult transition away from Google Chrome browser cookies for some. 

An analysis of two weeks of aggregated data from tens of millions of impressions since Google launched its trial of 1% deprecation on Jan. 4 reveals the challenges.

Paul Bannister, chief strategy officer at Raptive, which supports creators and publishers, posted a note on LinkedIn that “uncookied Chrome users appear to be monetizing about 30% worse than those with cookies.”

Since this is just the beginning of the trials, Bannister believes these results are “really positive,” comparing them with the 60% decline in performance related to Safari when Apple removed identifiers.

Much of Google's 30% gap, he believes, can be made up this year with continued investment as well as Privacy Sandbox, ID solutions and more.

Bannister’s early analysis shows that pre-bid demand -- such as demand that was not from Google -- performed better than Google demand in the deprecated group of data.

Marketers at Raptive believe this is because Google is “all-in on Privacy Sandbox,” whereas many other supply-side platforms (SSPs) are supporting Sandbox.

Google continues to trek on. "We continue to move forward with our plans to phase out third-party cookies in H2 2024, subject to addressing any remaining competition concerns from the UK CMA," a Google spokesperson wrote in an email to Search & Performance Marketing Daily. "We are confident the industry can make the transition in 2024 based on all the tremendous progress we've seen from leading companies."

Cookies were important, but outdated based on the changing requirements of digital advertising and consumer privacy. The tool is only one of the primary ways that information is collected and shared on the web. 

Demand-side platforms (DSPs) are enabling marketers to improve ad performance as cookies disappear.

It has become one way to mitigate the challenges, as marketers lose data signals to support ad targeting, from Apple's Identifier for Advertisers, a unique random device identifier generated and assigned to every device to Google sunsetting cookies in Chrome.  

Research from Fortune Business Insights predicts that DSP revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.9% through 2030.

This is a steep growth rate for technology in use by marketers for more than a decade, but some data suggests that privacy-driven changes in digital advertising continues to accelerate the use of DSPs.

The increased in use has enabled adding thousands of paid users in weeks at a profitable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

As third-party cookies crumble, brands are turning to their own first-party data and getting help from DSPs to equip marketers with tools and strategies, according to David Itzkowitz, director of performance at Zoomd.

“Data clean rooms are providing secure environments allowing marketers to combine first-party data with the DSP's data assets for audience segmentation and targeting without revealing sensitive information,” Itzkowitz said in an email to Media Daily News.

DSPs offer identity solutions that match first-party data with unique identifiers, enabling consistent targeting across different platforms and devices.

They are targeting ads based on the context of the app or webpage, such as keywords, topics, and surrounding content.

Mobile-measurement partners like AppsFlyer or Adjust have also stepped up, as well as adding advertiser-specific data and internal media-buying insights. These ad targeting tactics are used to build lookalike audience-based targeting segments that improve campaign performance.