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The cookie’s demise has led to dozens of different planning, activation, and measurement techniques without the cookie. Many seek to leverage first-party data.
Many of them are compelling; others perpetuate an incumbent toll-taking business model, while others still rely on black-box methods that perpetuate the poor reputation of adtech by conducting cookie stuffing or other nefarious means to ‘increase lift”. Good or bad, all of them are made possible and more effective if the publisher shows up with their first-party data.
This content series explores the potential ways first-party data can be used and how publishers can move to reclaim their ecosystem leverage and ownership of their users as they safeguard existing revenue streams and build new ones.
Understanding Different Data Types and Their Advantages:
Zero-party, first-party, and third-party?
What exactly is first-party data?
First-party data is information gathered directly from users via a publisher's platforms - websites, apps, or SDKs. Publishers accumulate this data by placing a first-party cookie or MAID on the user's device, tracking their activity within the domain(s), apps, SDKs, or within a group of domains tied together by a data-sharing agreement or shared ownership.
1PD includes the behavioral information publishers collect as customers interact with their websites, apps, products, and social media channels, along with other information derived from a user's engagement with a website. It is generally preceded by “cookie consent,” but this consent generally does not include sharing personal information. Publishers track IP addresses, login credentials, browser language, timestamps, demographics, which sites customers visited, and even what they left in their shopping carts. It helps publishers create customer segments based on interests, topics, products, and demographics–usually mapped to IAB categories.
This first-party data allows publishers to do all sorts of things…
- Create a custom Private Market Place (PMP)
- Create seller-defined audiences
- Sell data to DMPs
- Enrich the bid request with this data.
The key characteristic for publishers regarding first-party data is that publishers are first-party to the user. Accordingly, they can drop a first-party cookie on the user – and first-party cookies are persistent over time (unlike third-party cookies).
What exactly is third-party data?
Third-party data (3PD) refers to information collected by external sources, not directly from the customers or the publishing organization. 3PD is centered around the third-party cookie (3P cookie). These external sources can include data aggregators, brokers, or other companies that collect and sell data.
Unlike zero-party and first-party data, which are willingly provided or collected by a site or domain, third-party data is obtained through various means like cookies, social media platforms, or partnerships with other companies. It can include demographics, interests, browsing history, and additional behavioral information.
What exactly is zero-party data?
Zero Party Data (ZPD) is information customers willingly share with the publisher. Some experts consider it a fancy term for detailed data because customers explicitly provide it.
Publishers can collect this zero-party data from website forms, polls, newsletter subscriptions, and surveys. Sometimes, customers offer up this data without expecting anything in return. Organizations often treat it like a currency and give customers something like an e-book, webinar, or discount code in return for submitting this data. (The email you exchanged for this whitepaper exemplifies this concept.)
Why is zero-party data so valuable for publishers? This data comes straight from the customers themselves, which gives publishers the most accurate insights into their audience.
Differences between data types…
One of the critical differences between third-party data and others is the ownership and control of the data. With zero-party and first-party data, the organization collecting the data has direct ownership and control over it and, most times, direct consent to use it. They have a direct relationship with customers and can use the data to personalize their marketing and advertising efforts based on that relationship.
On the other hand, third-party data is collected by external entities, which means organizations have limited control and ownership over it. They purchase or access this data from external sources to supplement their own data. While it can provide broader insights into consumer behavior and preferences, there are some challenges associated with third-party data.
- The accuracy and quality of third-party data can vary. Outdated or incorrect information is possible since it's collected from external sources.
- Additionally, privacy concerns have become a significant consideration with the rise of data protection regulations and increased focus on consumer privacy. Obviously, GDPR in Europe, similar laws in other countries, and the emergence of multiple privacy laws on a state-by-state basis in the U.S. have all forced publishers to deploy Consent Management Platforms and contort their data strategies to follow the local requirements.
- Data security concerns continue to grow. Between bad actors, huge data breaches, and fraud, data that is built on third-party cookies has incremental risks since publishers do not control the sources, uses, and value of this data, and yet this data is often built on the publisher’s traffic.