Digiday+ Research: Agencies, brands don’t agree on specific path beyond third-party cookie expiration

first party data

This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →

For all the news (and panic) associated with the coming death of the third-party cookie, there has been a flurry of action on the part of agencies and brands to prepare, but very little consensus on what that preparation entails.

Digiday+ Research found in an April survey that the vast majority of agency and brand professionals agree that preparations are underway for Google to sunset third-party cookies at the end of next year. But when asked about how exactly they are preparing, a majority was nowhere to be found.

Of the 146 industry pros surveyed by Digiday, 70% of agency and brand executives said their businesses are busy actively preparing for the end of the third-party cookie.

But when it comes to what specifically agencies and brands are working on to take them beyond third-party cookies, responses to Digiday’s survey were across the board. Among respondents, there was no majority concerning what agencies and brands are working on as a replacement for the third-party cookie.

First-party data, ad tech-built cookie alternatives and contextual targeting did come close: 49% of agency and brand execs said their businesses are investing more in technology to acquire first-party data, 45% plan on using ad tech-built alternatives to the third-party cookie and 45% are spending more on contextual targeting campaigns. Meanwhile, a third of agency and brand execs are looking to second-party data partnerships, Digiday’s research found.

And where does Google’s suggested replacement for third-party cookies – Google Topics – fall in the conversation among agency and brand execs? Among those surveyed by Digiday, more than 40% did not agree or disagree that Google Topics will effectively replace the third-party cookie.

Clearly, industry execs have plenty of drive and options when it comes to charting the path beyond the third-party cookie. But the map for measurement and targeting past the end of next year is far from complete.

https://digiday.com/?p=453687

More in Marketing

Snapchat sunsets its AR Enterprise division as it vows to give advertisers AR tools

“We are not diminishing the importance of AR,” he said. “In fact, we are strategically reallocating resources to strengthen our endeavors in AR advertising and to elevate the fundamental AR experiences provided to Snapchat users.”

Measuring Success graphic using ruler and coins

Why Activision Blizzard Media is using an Attention Measurement Scorecard to raise marketers’ confidence in gaming

In Q4 of this year, Activision Blizzard Media is launching in beta a new measurement tool dubbed the Attention Measurement Scorecard. The goal: to raise brands’ and marketers’ confidence in in-game advertising.

With Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie, Cinema advertisers hope for a Q4 boost

The concert film will likely help build on cinema advertising’s momentum after Barbenheimer.