Cracking the Publisher Code for the Future of Digital Ad Targeting
The form, function, and meaning of addressability are changing so fast that it's no wonder advertiser budgets flock to walled gardens for simple, scaled solutions. Fear not! Independent publishers can provide the same.
We will first summarize what everyone already knows about changes in Addressability, then move to how publishers and their vendor partners can offer alternatives to walled gardens by mastering their first-party data. In the second post, we will discuss how advertisers can adopt these new realities to reduce reliance on the ever-more-expensive walled garden solutions.
But first, here’s the definition of Addressability culled from our AI overlords: “Addressability in digital advertising refers to the ability to identify and target specific users or households with personalized ads based on their known characteristics, behaviors, and preferences. It relies on the collection of data points, such as device IDs, cookies, email addresses, and other identifiers, to deliver tailored ad experiences to the right audience at the right time across different channels and platforms.”
So here is how and why addressability is changing rapidly and threatening the grand bargain of targeted digital advertising:
- Third-Party Cookie Deprecation
Browsers like Google Chrome are phasing out third-party cookies, which have been crucial for tracking users across the web. This change means advertisers lose access to detailed user-level data across multiple sites, complicating targeted advertising.
- Changes in IP persistence
IPV4 addresses are changing much faster due to limitations in the number of addresses that exist. Each time an IP address changes, the household becomes unreachable until it obtains a new lease and is relinked to existing data about the household. Making things worse, a transition is underway to move to the new protocol, IPV6 - which has many more available addresses to hand to devices - but changes frequently. Your device may get a new lease for each stream you initiate during the day. Today, this is the most popular targeting method in CTV, so you can see how this is a problem in an industry planning explosive growth.
- Privacy Regulations
Regulations such as GDPR and CCPA require explicit user consent for data tracking, reducing the amount of user data available for personalized ads.
- Device and Platform Policies
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework limits cross-device tracking without user consent, affecting addressability and measurement.
- Consumer Demand for Privacy
Growing consumer awareness is driving platforms to adopt privacy-centric policies, further restricting data collection for advertisers[.
- First-Party Data Gaps
Advertisers must shift from third-party to first-party data collection, necessitating new strategies for compliant data use.
- Increased Focus on Contextual Targeting
With signal loss-making user-level targeting difficult, advertisers are turning to contextual targeting, focusing on content rather than behavioral data.
So, what can publishers do about it?
Mitigating Signal Loss: Strategies for Publishers
Because the rules have changed, so have the tools and systems needed to support addressability. The initiatives below will deliver a solid framework to maintain addressability throughout the constantly changing landscape and improve publisher control of data and destiny.
- First-Party Data Collection: Publishers should focus on collecting first-party data through subscriptions or gated content to gain audience insights[1][5].
- Building Private Identity Graphs: Developing identity solutions by linking first-party data across properties can create a comprehensive user view.
- Leverage Universal IDs and Identity Solutions in the bid stream: Explore universal ID frameworks to maintain user identity across the web while complying with privacy regulations.
- Leverage your first-party data and contextual data to create standard and custom Audience Segments via curation: Use first-party data to create audience segments for targeting without individual tracking, enhancing privacy compliance[2][5].
- Adopt pure-play and hybrid Contextual Targeting Innovations: Invest in tools that match ads to relevant content based on browsing context, leveraging AI and NLP for better content understanding.
- When necessary, support Collaboration and Data Clean Rooms: Collaborate with advertisers using clean rooms to share first-party data securely and gain insights without exposing raw data.
- Transparent value exchange and Consent Management: Implement a robust consent management system to maintain audience trust and capture permissioned data transparently. This will help you build a longer-term, trusted relationship with your audiences.
- Embrace Authenticated Audiences if you have them: While many digital publishers don’t have authenticated audiences (an exchange of an email for access to content, offers, etc), those that do force login will enjoy higher prices for their deterministic identifiers such as UID 2. While it may not be easy, encourage user registration to gather reliable targeting data, offering advertisers precision in targeting authenticated audiences
- Support the buy side’s desires to target in new, bespoke ways: Buyers are generally OK using publisher first-party data ingredients, but wish to do so using their own definition for targeting. This means publishers need to have the facility to match the raw ingredients they collect on their users with the buy side’s unique needs. In recent months we have run across multiple HoldCos and Indy agencies looking to lean into use of first party data to target things like moments of happiness and family meals. With the right setup, publishers can support such use cases and prevent the exchange of buyer or seller data to generate these campaigns.
By adopting these strategies, publishers can navigate the evolving landscape of digital advertising addressability while innovating and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. If you are interested in how the GrowthCode Addressability Management Platform can be leveraged for your business, click here