• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 12, 2024

A decision by Google to delay the cookie phaseout based on feedback of European Union governmental bodies have advertisers taking their own sweet time in completing the task. Many still have concerns and questions about the strategy's readiness and what effect it may have on business.

Only 25% of advertisers are completely prepared for the cookie phaseout and 46% are happy with Google’s decision to delay the phaseout, according to data from Taboola, a platform that recommends content to users based on interests.

The study polled 202 decision-makers in advertising and marketing. YouGov fielded the study between May 3 and 9, 2024. Findings suggest 44% of advertisers anticipate shifting ad spend to different channels, as cookies are phased out.

Advertisers see different channels as providing better performance and return on investment in a cookieless world, with search and native advertising ranking among the strongest.

Google seemed well on its way to deprecation of third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome browser until it hit yet another roadblock earlier this year.

The first delay came in 2020, then again in 2023, and most recently in April 2024 when a Google executive explained in a blog post that the company would no longer have the ability to eliminate third-party cookies on its most recent revised timeline. Estimates now put the rollout sometime in 2025 -- if the company meets the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) approval. 

Google, at the time, cited “ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers.” They also have been working to build other options like clean rooms for advertisers wanting to share data with specific companies. 

Viant in May became one of the first DSP to integrate with Google Cloud’s BigQuery Data Clean Room; as Google trends away from cookies the data is now available as a service within Google Cloud.

The partnership means the integration of Yahoo ConnectID, the Yahoo DSP cookieless identifier, and VideoAmp’s big data and tech engine known as VALID, an acronym for VideoAmp Linked Identity & Data. It relies on viewership data and an identity graph.

At Reticle.AI, emotions are being used to help brands reach CTV, which never used cookies. Tricia Allen, VP of business development believes aligning with consumers emotionally has been shown to increase ad recall by 12% and attention by 35%.

I have always said that generative AI would support cookieless targeting using Large Language Models (LLM) to support performance. PubMatic, a global sell-side ad technology company, has partnered with Cognitiv, a deep learning ad platform, to support contextual targeting solution using GPT 4. It goes beyond keyword targeting.

GPT 4 understands sentiment and can capture nuances unlike previous LLMs. It unlocks relevant content and enables brands to buy on more specialty publishers with confidence. 

PubMatic integrated with Cognitiv to offer more nuanced and precise media buying opportunities than typical contextual segments, such as real-time events, news, special interest, and multicultural data.