In the lead-up to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Google enacted a bevy of changes that affected how advertisers could track and measure campaign performance on Google properties.
This week on The Big Story, we look at those changes and the fallout with advertisers.
Editor James Hercher examined some of Google’s biggest recent policy shifts to show how much the company has changed. From restrictions on the DoubleClick ID to cookie crushing on Chrome, Google has made it harder to evaluate spend for advertisers who don’t want to work entirely within the Google ecosystem.
On the other hand, those who standardize on Google’s ad stack can access some incredibly powerful capabilities.
Are Google’s efforts an attempt to consolidate power or a good faith effort to protect consumer privacy? Maybe a little of both? The AdExchanger team debates.
But the problems with measurement go beyond Google. For advertisers, the big goal is cross-platform measurement. Last week at the ANA conference, P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard reiterated to Sarah Sluis where he wants the industry to focus on next: getting customer signals that cross all the walled gardens.
Or as the Reddit AdOps community put it: “Marc Pritchard learns about a DMP.”
In a cookie-less world, though, marketers will probably have to go beyond a DMP and find a way to bridge cross-platform connections. And Pritchard is rallying his peers to push for those connections.
How will it happen, and will it happen? That’s unclear at this point, but Pritchard’s influence in the industry is immense.
Remember: When he called for an ad ecosystem cleanup, he got it.
