Lotame (www.lotame.com), the only flexible data solutions provider to future proof connectivity and drive performance across all screens, today announced findings from part two of its “Beyond the Cookie” report.
Part one, “Beyond the Cookie: The Future of Advertising for Marketers and Publishers,” was released in February and examined how organizations are beginning to plan for the phase-out of third-party cookies. For part two, “Beyond the Cookie: Identity Solution Adoption & Testing Among Marketers and Publishers,” Lotame surveyed 200 Australian senior decision-makers in digital media and marketing to evaluate identity solution adoption amid the flurry of data privacy changes reshaping the open web. Respondents were polled in September 2021 after Google revealed another delay to deprecating third-party cookies to 2023.
Key findings from the report include:
- Cookie Deprecation Will Hurt Revenue – 53% of marketers say the loss of cookies will reduce ad-targeting opportunities, with over 60% (61%) expecting a 10-25% drop of revenue as a result. Meanwhile, almost 70% (68%) of publishers anticipate having to reduce their workforce due to revenue loss brought on by third-party cookie deprecation.
- Explaining Identity Solution Adoption – For marketers, their primary reason for adopting new identity solutions is to support data privacy (52%). Publishers also cited data privacy (75%) as their top reason.
- Marketers & Publishers Want Multiple IDs – When asked what the optimal number of ID solutions was, 33% of marketers said two, followed by 20% who selected both three and “open to using any number.” Meanwhile, 35% of publishers said two and 26% said “open to using any number.”
- Google Cookie Delay Welcomed & Expected – Across all respondents when asked to react to Google’s decision to delay the end of third-party cookies, 67% said they were “glad because we needed more time to prepare, while 36% said: “I was expecting them to delay.” However, 43% also said: “I’m suspicious of the reasoning behind it.”
- Industry Concerned by Apple’s Take on Privacy – In reaction to Apple’s Privacy Relay, 57% of all respondents said: “I’m concerned for our ability to monetize our email channel,” while 54% said: “I’m concerned for the impact on email hash identifiers.” Relatedly, email-based identity solutions (65%) were the most popular choice when asked what types of ID solutions marketers and publishers planned to test in the next six months to one year. Contextual (58%) was in second place, followed by cohorts (47%) and probabilistic (42%).
“A cookieless future is closer on the horizon, and whether or not the industry ‘feels prepared’, the end result is inevitable,” said Luke Dickens, Managing Director – ANZ at Lotame. “Digital advertising is changing, and identity solutions will be part of that new future. Addressability and connectivity are at greatest threat in the post-cookie world. Testing identity solutions now can not only soften the blow of a cookieless landscape but future proof a business’s ability to connect with consumers in meaningful and respectful ways.”
