Commerce media: Retail’s next big opportunity

The AdTech industry is buzzing with discussions about cookie deprecation and effective strategies to tackle it. One of the commonly suggested solutions is the utilization of clean rooms alongside responsibly sourced first-party data. Above all else, the industry recognizes the importance of respecting consumer data and complying with all privacy laws. Additionally, the industry acknowledges the need for a change in our historical practices. This shift benefits everyone involved, as consumer data is more secure than ever. Tremendous investments have been made to ensure the utmost security of consumer information. Clean rooms are one of the tools that enable companies to use data securely, ensuring the content that you see is as relevant as possible. Two ways the AdTech industry is addressing cookie deprecation The days of sending data directly to partners for usage or for using only third-party data for marketing efforts are gone. Now, the emphasis is on responsibly collecting first-party data and using clean rooms to enrich first-party data to enhance marketing efforts. First-party data The industry is starting to lean into first-party data gained through transparent means. This valuable information provides organizations with deeper insights into their customers, allowing for more personalized and effective interactions. By embracing the power of first-party data, either on its own or enriched via partner collaboration, you can cultivate stronger relationships, build trust, and deliver tailored experiences that resonate with your customers on a deeper level. Clean rooms Many data lakes and warehouses offer this service, ensuring their clients can not only store their data with them but can connect it with other partners in a secure environment and extract more information through the combined data sets versus their data on its own. Brands and their partners recognize that they need to work together, and a clean room provides a secure environment to share their first-party data without exposing their sensitive data to their partner. So, while we're losing third-party cookies, brands and partners can still get value from first-party data by using a clean room to generate audience insights, segmentation strategies, personalized experiences and offers, media plans, and measurement and attribution. Three ways data clean rooms can improve Data clean rooms are a great way to facilitate data collaboration while ensuring sensitive data is not exposed. Data clean rooms are not yet easy to use nor are they inexpensive. They require investment, both financially and resource allocation-wise, and you are not guaranteed to yield great match results. Let’s dive into three areas for data clean room improvement. High cost According to the IAB's State of Data 2023, nearly two-thirds of data clean room users spent at least $200K on the technology in 2022. In addition, one-third of data clean room users expect the price of data clean rooms to rise in 2023. The high cost of this solution can make it inaccessible to smaller companies in the advertising space. Resource intensive Nearly half of the companies using data clean rooms have a team of six or more dedicated to the technology, according to the IAB’s State of Data 2023, while nearly a third of companies using data clean rooms have 11 or more employees focused on the technology. Data clean rooms are not turnkey solutions. Inefficient matching Even if companies are using clean rooms does not mean that they are automatically going to achieve great success. Identity fragmentation, data hygiene, and differing identifiers can suppress client match rates in clean rooms, leading to significant investment and a lackluster output. How to get the most return on your clean room investment The finish line for data collaboration in clean rooms is not just having a relationship with a clean room. Instead, you should incorporate an identity resolution solution in your clean room. By adding an identity solution to your clean room, you can: Resolve and match all your identity data, regardless of the identity data that you or your partner have, giving you a larger data foundation to analyze. Generate more valuable insights and information, leading to a better experience for your customers. Join data sets to create smarter activation and targeting strategies and produce more holistic measurement. Experian can help you get started with identity resolution and data clean rooms If you are investing in data clean rooms, that means you are committed to the best in data practices. Experian recommends going the extra step and that you also invest in finding an identity resolution solution. By doing this, you can see better match rates. Experian offers this capability and has existing relationships with three clean room partners, Amazon Web Services, InfoSum, and Snowflake. In addition to collaborating in clean rooms, we offer collaboration in two other secure environments. Contact us today to discuss how we enable identity resolution in clean rooms or to chat about our other collaboration capabilities. Get in touch Latest posts

Ongoing signal loss is driving marketers, agencies, and platforms to turn to supply-side advertising. By using first-party data from publishers and platforms, supply-side advertising has the potential to deliver high-quality audience and context for more effective ad targeting. The supply-side refers to the publishers and platforms that sell advertising inventory. These companies have access to first-party data about their users, which can be used to target ads more effectively. By tapping into supply-side advertising, you can overcome the challenges of signal loss and target ads more effectively. To shed light on this topic, we hosted a panel discussion at Cannes, featuring industry leaders from Audigent, Captify, Newsweek, Pubmatic, Truthset, and Experian. In this blog post, we'll explore how partnerships between supply-side channels and publishers are working to enhance advertising opportunities while balancing the need for transparency and control in programmatic ad buying. Shift toward supply-side advertising Traditionally, the demand-side dominated the programmatic media buying chain due to an abundance of supply. However, with the emergence of finite data and its interpretation, collaboration between supply-side technology companies and publishers is required to redefine these economics. It's no longer sufficient for the demand-side to blindly negotiate prices based on limited knowledge. Marketers can still define their target audience, but effective communication is key. This presents an opportunity for premium journalistic outlets to guide the industry's understanding of how data from the supply-side impacts media buying economics in the future. "Supply-side technology partnerships with publishers are now in a position to shape the economics of programmatic media buying as there is a finite amount of data. It’s crucial for supply-side technology companies to collaborate with publishers to shape these new economics. This presents an opportunity for premium journalistic outlets to provide guidance on how data from the supply-side can affect the future of media buying." matthew papa, svp, business & corporate development, captify Democratizing data from the supply-side Cookies haven't brought significant benefits to premium publishers. They mainly serve to retarget users from sites like The Wall Street Journal to advertising sites. This approach primarily serves the purpose of generating revenue. The elimination of third-party cookies presents an opportunity for premium publishers to shift this dynamic. By using their knowledge of first-party audiences, and using identifiers like Experian's LUID, publishers can own and understand their audience data, which can then be modeled. Here’s how publishers can win Establishing a connection with consumers and emphasizing the value exchange is essential to building trust. Determining what incentives and benefits consumers find meaningful will be crucial in gaining their opt-in. With consumers The Apple tracking transparency initiative, specifically the deprecation of IDFA signals, had significant implications for mobile app developers. Overnight, opt-in rates plummeted, causing a drastic decline in iOS ad monetization. To combat this, developers focused on demonstrating the value exchange to consumers—better ad experiences and personalized content. By articulating the benefits over a couple of years, opt-in rates increased from 10-15% to 30-40%. The key takeaway is the need to effectively communicate the value exchange to consumers. With partners Trust plays a crucial role in planning your first-party data strategy. Publishers, advertisers, and data partners highly value their proprietary data. However, there are concerns about how it's used, mishandled, or leaked in the ecosystem. Building trust between partners is essential. It's important to work with trustworthy partners who are agnostic, committed to innovative solutions, and globally oriented. These partners can help navigate the complexities of laws and regulations. Choosing the right partners is crucial in a world where first-party data is a key asset. "Power is shifting toward brands that have strong relationships with customers and possess first-party data. As the ownership of customer data becomes more important, it is crucial to establish a first-party data strategy to better serve customers and adapt to changing market dynamics."chip russo, president, truthset Balance probabilistic and deterministic data Focus on building trust with consumers and collaborating with reliable companies to share data. However, it's important to remember that achieving a 100% opt-in rate is unlikely. The cookie, which has become omnipresent, requires us to shift our strategic thinking. We need to consider both deterministic and probabilistic approaches instead of viewing them as mutually exclusive. The landscape will be fragmented, with some consumers opting in and others not. "Probabilistic and predictive audience data holds immense potential. With the power of AI, we can expect enhanced performance and efficacy in media campaigns. At Audigent, we firmly believe that this data will outperform deterministic data, making it an integral part of our strategy." drew stein, ceo, audigent Premium content Trust plays a crucial role in leading to premium content. By placing trust in the best media brands, data, and technology partners, we can expect to see improvements in media, journalism, and advertising. This shift may have a direct impact on the long tail of free natural resources, making it more challenging for them to thrive. However, this change is ultimately beneficial since it promotes higher-quality media experiences overall. "The homepage surface is making a comeback in the publishing industry, proving its value in establishing a direct connection with readers. While we acknowledge the importance of technology partnerships for addressability and identity, our core competency as a publisher remains outstanding journalism that captures and engages great audiences." kevin gentzel, cco, newsweek Watch our Cannes panel for more on supply-side advertising We hosted a panel in Cannes that covered supply-side advertising. Check out the full recording below to hear what leaders from Audigent, Captify, Newsweek, Pubmatic, Truthset, and Experian had to say. Watch now Check out more Cannes content: Our key takeaways from Cannes Lions 2023 Insights from a first-time attendee Four new marketing strategies for 2023 Exploring the opportunities in streaming TV advertising The future of identity in cookieless advertising Follow us on LinkedIn or sign up for our email newsletter for more informative content on the latest industry insights and data-driven marketing. Latest posts

The digital advertising landscape has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Privacy-conscious consumers, transformative regulations, and emerging technologies are converging to redefine how addressability — the ability to accurately reach a specific audience — functions in this new era. Addressability is a cornerstone of digital advertising, and its evolution presents both challenges and opportunities for publishers and advertisers alike. The need for enhancing addressability is driven by a complex set of factors. More consumers are opting out of data sharing or disabling cookie-tracking, leading to a drastic reduction in the reach of traditional programmatic advertising. Nearly 70 percent of consumers are now unreachable through these conventional methods, creating an 'addressability gap' that publishers and advertisers are eager to bridge. The landscape is further complicated by privacy regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which mandate solutions that balance user privacy with advertisers' needs. Contributing to this intricate mix is the growing shift toward video and connected TV (CTV). These platforms have long operated in a cookie-less environment and are witnessing rising demand due to their engaging nature and broad reach. However, the attractiveness of these mediums to advertisers hinges on effective addressability, highlighting the urgent need for innovative audience identification and targeting methods. The emergence of data enablers and collaborative initiatives Data enablers like Experian are stepping up to meet this need. These companies are providing robust, privacy-compliant data resources to improve addressability. Experian's unique approach to identification, the Living Unit ID (LUID), is a key tool in bridging the current gap in reach. How Experian and Microsoft Advertising are redefining addressability We recently expanded our collaboration with Microsoft, to make our extensive data resources available through Microsoft Advertising’s data marketplace. This collaborative initiative represents a significant move, offering a compelling model of how data enablers and buy-side and sell-side platforms can work together to redefine addressability. The benefits of this arrangement extend to all stakeholders in the ecosystem. Advertisers using Microsoft Invest can now access Experian's audience data. This not only enhances the granularity of their audience targeting but also broadens the reach of their campaigns. Experian's identity spine also serves as a robust framework to extend the value and reach of advertisers' first-party data. For publishers, the accessibility of Experian data on Microsoft Advertising’s data marketplace opens the door to greater addressability in their inventory, enabling them to offer advertisers more addressable impressions. This then amplifies the value of their inventory, potentially increasing their overall yield. For advertisers, this integration facilitates access to highly relevant audiences while simplifying campaign setup and respecting user privacy. We can help you carve a new path toward addressability In the ever-evolving landscape of digital advertising, such collaborative efforts are becoming critical to ensure that advertising remains effective for brands, profitable for publishers, and respectful of consumer privacy. This model of cooperation and innovation is essential to navigate the challenges of a privacy-centric, cookie-less world and unlock the true potential of every media channel. With collaborative initiatives and innovative solutions, the industry is set to transform these challenges into opportunities, carving a new path toward addressability that respects privacy and delivers value for all stakeholders. Connect with us to learn more about how you can access our data in Microsoft Advertising’s data marketplace. To learn more about our partner Microsoft Advertising, visit their website. Latest posts