Hardly a week goes by without fresh headlines on the death of third-party cookies.
Google first decided to delay (yet again) its much anticipated deprecation date for Chrome to early 2025 and in the latest plot twist, they announced this week that they won’t remove cookies from Chrome at all. And yet, the search giant continues to encourage privacy-safe alternative solutions.
Amid all this confusion, publishers and advertisers can't afford to take a beat in their own privacy journeys. Because there’s another, less discussed fact in digital media: the cookieless web is already here. Just take a look at a few key numbers:
- Nearly 30% of display ads run without third-party trackers, on non-Chrome browsers
- Up to 80% of impressions on supply-side platforms (SSPs) use alternative ID signals
- Online video has become a top revenue channel, as consumers watch 3+ hours daily
- In the coming 12-24 months, publishers need to replace $10+ billion in cookieless revenue
Welcome to the “Great Video Advertising Bake-Off,” where the heat is on to find the perfect recipe for targeting success in a post-cookie world.
As the clock ticks down, pressure mounts for brands and media owners alike to find privacy-safe solutions. EX.CO’s latest industry guide, Rebaking the Cookie: A Guide to Privacy-safe Online Video Advertising brings together insights from 12 industry leaders and a shortlist of the key ingredients you need to craft a winning video ad strategy.
What's Cooking in the Cookieless Kitchen?
With cookieless targeting on the rise, media leaders need to know the strengths and limitations of various solutions on the menu. From the “gold standard” of first-party data (1PD) to the personalized touch of contextual signals and the “essential spices” of privacy-compliant ID solutions, we break down each ingredient to help you create the perfect mix for your business.
Best of all, we’ve gathered insights and best practices from real-world "master chefs" who have already begun adapting to the post-cookie landscape. Their biggest lesson? Embrace experimentation:
- As Nola Solomon, a global GTM strategy leader, puts it: “One of the biggest misconceptions is that there’s a silver bullet for addressability to replace cookies – be that first-party data, the Privacy Sandbox, or other signals… What's critical is having a holistic approach.”
- Justin Wohl, CRO of Snopes.com, emphasizes that cookie deprecation is “just one aspect of a greater privacy shift by operating system and browser providers that will broadly limit advertising functionality as it exists today.”
- The inflection point also presents an opportunity. “The loss of cookies is causing all of us to take a look at ourselves and re-evaluate,” says Amanda Gomez, SVP of revenue operations and ad technology at the New York Post. “We’re now building out strategies to get to know our users better than ever and build the best experiences for them.”
The best post-cookie recipes weave together a mix of identity solutions, audience APIs, and holistic video platforms to learn and adapt in real-time as the market evolves.
Best Practices for Whipping Up Cookieless Success
As you embark on this great bake-off, remember that there's no one-size-fits-all recipe for success. Whether you’re a publisher, advertiser, or media agency, the key is to experiment with different ingredients and find the right balance for your specific business needs. Our guide includes proven tips for sous chefs in the data privacy kitchen, including how to:
- Collect and leverage first-party data in a privacy-compliant way to improve your audience insights
- Encourage visitors to provide an email address by offering a strong value exchange
- Boost audience dwell time with AI-powered playlists and video recommendations
- Accelerate supply path optimization (SPO) with more holistic online video platforms
Whether you’re a publisher or a brand or ad agency, you'll be able to find an approach within our industry guide that satisfies your audience's cravings for relevant, engaging video content while maintaining their privacy.
Join the Great Video Advertising Bake-Off
The death of cookies isn’t the first “kitchen nightmare” for media leaders, and it won’t be the last. The industry’s deprecation push will soon come for IP addresses, mobile IDs, hashed emails, and more. Publishers and advertisers must invest sooner rather than later in solutions like first-party data, contextual targeting, alternate IDs, and demand-agnostic video platforms to develop a more sustainable menu of targeting options.
Don't get left behind as the digital advertising world evolves. With the right ingredients and a dash of innovation, you can create a winning video ad strategy that will have your audience coming back for seconds.
Click below to check out the full guide and start cooking up your future-proof video strategy.
