
This article is a WTF explainer, in which we break down media and marketing’s most confusing terms. More from the series →
Of all the advertising functions that the third-party has been co-opted to perform, keeping track of the content — including the ads — that someone is exposed to online is among the most basic uses. This fundamental use case is the focus of a proposal in Google’s Privacy Sandbox called Shared Storage.
Shared Storage basically serves as a storage locker within people’s browsers that advertisers, publishers and ad tech firms can use to stash information across sites and to act on that information. For example, an advertiser can use Shared Storage to tally the number of times someone was served a specific ad and cycle in a new ad to serve next, as covered in the video below.
More in Marketing

WPP client Dell Technologies is rolling out its global in-housing initiative, reshaping media-buying strategy
The technology giant is evolving its media model in a manner that will alter its relationships with third-parties.

In the face of fragmentation, Dmexco is now a smaller stage for ad tech’s big conversations
These days, it’s still where business gets done, but increasingly for a narrower slice of the ecosystem.

When it comes to Perplexity’s ad business, the platform is at a crossroads
The departure of Perplexity’s ads chief Taz Patel underscores a broader identity question the AI platform has yet to resolve.