Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Fun While It Lasted
A few years ago, programmatic companies started sharing online ad identifiers as a way to improve reach and targeting. But with Chrome phasing out third-party cookies in two years, the days of shared IDs and cookie-based consortia are on the way out. In the next 12 months, ID-sharing will see a surge of interest, James Coulson, Infectious Media’s managing partner for strategy, tells Digiday. That’s because publishers and tech vendors will search for alternatives with the companies most directly affected by the Chrome policy change (and also to get in on the action before the cookie jar is empty). But once Chrome third-party cookies are gone, so will be The Trade Desk’s Unified ID Solution, the IAB Tech Lab’s DigiTrust consortium and the Advertising ID Consortium backed by LiveRamp – unless those initiatives evolve into something new or start to incorporate non-cookie identity data, such as emails, mobile IDs or phone numbers. But moving from anonymized and impermanent cookies to IDs based on personal identifiers (data that attaches to an actual person or their home) is a meaningful jump in terms of potential privacy issues. More.
Data-Free, The Way To Be
IKEA is introducing customer data controls for how it collects and uses digital information for marketing or profiling. The Swedish home goods and furniture retailer isn’t under the spotlight when it comes to data privacy, but the move is more about big brands trying to stand out by distancing themselves from personal data, The Wall Street Journal reports. By contrast, many large retailer chains such as Target and Walmart are investing heavily in their own ad platforms and data-driven marketing operations. Apple is another example of a brand that has seized on privacy as a potential marketing wedge issue compared to Google’s Android. “We are doing this because we believe it’s the right thing to do and we believe it makes business sense to respect people’s data,” says Barbara Martin Coppola, chief digital officer at Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee and operator. More.
Flat FTW
Verizon Media is doing better by not doing any worse. On Verizon’s Q4 2019 earnings call Thursday, the telco applauded its media division for bringing in $2.1 billion in revenue for the quarter. Although essentially flat compared with the prior year, those results represent “a meaningful improvement from the decline reported at the beginning of the year,” Verizon EVP and CFO Matt Ellis told investors. Verizon Media did have a fairly solid 2019, with strong holiday ad performance, a significant uptick in NFL live stream traffic and the launch of its sports betting partnership with MGM. “We’ve brought stabilization to the business,” said Verizon Media Group’s CEO, Guru Gowrappan, on stage Wednesday at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview conference in New York City, speaking more broadly about Verizon Media’s overall progress in 2019 compared with the prior year.
But Wait, There’s More
- Facebook’s Relationship With Democrats Hits A Low Point – WSJ
- Dentsu Aegis Network Acquires 4Cite To Boost Merkle’s Identity Capability – release
- Dailymotion Partners With White Ops For Video SIVT Verification – release
- Junk Mail Is Borrowing Tracking Techniques From Online Advertising – WaPo
- GameRefinery Acquires App Analytics Competitor Reflection.io – release
- Facebook’s ‘Clear History’ Button Doesn’t Delete Anything – MIT Technology Review
- Cohley Raises $1.5M To Change The Way Brands Generate Content – release
- Comcast Launches New Technology Solution For Political Advertisers – release
- The Most Important Internal Metrics For CMOs – MediaPost
You’re Hired
- Forbes Taps Jessica Sibley For The CRO Role – release
- Konstantinos Spetsaris Joins Analytic Partners As SVP – release
- ‘Morning Brew’ Adds 4 SVPs/VP As Revenue Tops $13 Million – MediaPost
