Jessica Usenbor, Platforms & Capabilities – Programmatic Lead at OMG, explains how Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies will in fact help the industry go back to basics.

The deprecation of the third-party cookie is an opportunity for advertising to get back to its essence and focus on its core objective: to build customer trust and brand love. Nifty marketeers will benefit significantly from this new environment, producing better marketing and business results through extensive application of machine learning and measurement methods. Clients’ evaluation of digital maturity and transformation will also increase as they recognize the need for a simple yet impactful technology stack to support media ROI.

So, what does this mean for the digital players going forward?

First-party and second-party data will become vital to all parties – agency, publisher and marketeer. As data shifts become more deterministic, targeting and predictive assessment strengthens. We will see CPM/CPA increase for these premium datasets as volumes decrease, but quality and precision will be a key benefit.

Publishers with compelling value propositions and deep customer relationships (logged-in users) will benefit the most from a cookie-less world. Publishers can utilize their first-party data as a match point with marketeers to unlock the value of one-to-one marketing without the need for cookies. And all this can be done in a privacy-compliant way that protects the proprietary data of both parties.

Our preconceived notions of the value of an impression are reevaluated as we shift towards LifeTime Value and consumer behaviors beyond media providing a holistic approach to a brand’s business. Over time, metrics will change as success will be measured against LTV.

Contextual targeting will become more significant as placement adjacency is evaluated and becomes valued from a stance of context over audience, heavily reducing brand safety risks. More so, publishers will need to focus on content quality and UX experience to remain at the forefront.

One channel that is not impacted by recent changes is apps, where mobile app IDs act as the primary key for identification. Rumors of device IDs being restricted in the future abound, but nothing has been confirmed. If the web is any indication, our time horizon is measured in years.

How to prepare for a cookie-less world?

Firstly, stay ahead of changes and remain well-informed through Google updates. Evaluate the way you store and collect data and ensure that you have the right technology infrastructure in place. Data tools will be crucial in building your ecosystem. At Omnicom Media Group, we work closely with Google to maintain a continuous test-and-learn approach that minimizes any negative impact brands may face moving forward.

We use powerful technology, like our proprietary people-based precision marketing and insights platform Omni, to advance our clients’ capabilities in data collection, audience insight, and campaign execution. Omni is powered by GDPR-compliant offline and online data sources. This is a single solution for data mining, planning, activation, and measurement. Omni allows us to provide predictive and actionable insights from a client’s CRM or first-party data while remaining privacy-compliant.