The golden opportunity for independent digital publishers

Digital advertising is undergoing a massive shift, especially with the sunsetting of third-party cookies. This change is not a setback but a golden opportunity for publishers to reclaim control through first-party data. Possession of and competence around controlled first-party data create transformational opportunities for publishers. With it, publishers can reclaim control over their user data and the monetization of the relationship publishers have with these users.

As an answer to the somewhat murky understanding in the market of this transition to first-party data, GrowthCode has created a white paper to debunk, define, and depict the ins and outs of this transformational shift to first-party data.

This white paper covers concepts and advocates investments to drive key outcomes:

• Collecting and analyzing first-party and zero-party data.
• It emphasizes that first-party data will be pivotal in navigating new Universal ID solutions and staying ahead in a privacy-conscious market. 
• Publishers now have the opportunity to leverage their first-party data to generate revenue through various methods such as Direct Sales, Bid Decoration, Building Private Marketplaces (PMPs), Reach Extension/Retargeting, and Data Sales.
• These strategies not only help in enhancing impression value but also offer solutions to declining CPMs. 

However, transitioning to first-party data is challenging, especially for smaller publishers lacking the necessary scale and infrastructure. These publishers face issues like:

• Scale: Most publishers simply do not have enough first-party data segments to directly attract buyers.  Therefore, they must determine how to aggregate with other publishers 
• Development costs: How do small publishers amortize the costs of building this first-party data infrastructure?  Do they work with vendors who have their own motives, or go it alone?
• Expertise: How do publishers find the expertise, in particular, the unbiased expertise they need?
• Audience definitions and lack of trust from buyers: Few publishers have scale. Even those that do define their audiences differently.  Buyers will not trust a publisher’s definition, yet they need standard definitions to reach scale. 
• Picking winners: If publishers choose to invest themselves, there are already dozens of competing Universal Identity Data tools; some will disappear, and some likely violate privacy rules.  
• Measurement: While imperfect, third-party cookies gave everyone an agreed-upon tool to measure performance.  No easy substitute is on the horizon. Without one, CPMs will only go down. 

Yet, despite these obstacles, first-party data remains the critical feedstock to all future revenue streams. For example, the industry is developing solutions like the IAB’s Seller Defined Audience (SDA) structure and Universal IDs to standardize and streamline the process of planning, activation, and measurement after the demise of the 3rd party cookie.

We hope the resource is both helpful and informative. And please reach out with any questions. If you wish to learn more about GrowthCode's first-party data infrastructure as a service, please contact us here.

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