Increased Data Privacy for Advertisers and Publishers

Where do we go from here? 

Privacy complaints made in November 2020 from Europe over the use of IDFA tracking code on iPhones, have pushed the industry to take privacy more seriously. In response, Apple said it would enable privacy control for its iOS users, by allowing them to opt-in to ad tracking.

In 2021, consumers are more aware than ever about sharing their data. As regulators continue to step up privacy requirements, many businesses are exploring ways to use data to their advantage without violating industry regulations.

In a webinar sponsored by Tavant, Strategies to Enable Advertising, Targeting and Measurement in a Privacy-Regulated World,experts from DISH Media, Integer Group (an Omnicom Group company), Sequent Partners, and Tavant got together to discuss the impact of these regulations on the media, publishing, and advertising industry.

Here’s what the Panelists had to say:

THE ADVENT OF PRIVACY REGULATIONS

1. Privacy standards (GDPR, CCPA) are separating those that own data and those that do not.
2. Third-party cookies and ad IDs are going away, but multinational companies in Europe (who worked with GDPR) are ready for it.
3.  Advertisers will need to offer opt-ins. Publishers need to educate users to outline the opt-in message with information on what data is being collected and how it’s beneficial.

The consensus is that we will get smarter about ways to protect data, be compliant, and protect user privacy.

 Yet, the current state of data quality is messy. Data used for targeting or attribution may have come with different levels of quality, which can introduce bias in the data processing and impact the efficacy in targeting or attribution. Will the increased privacy force the advertisers to put more emphasis on media mix and innovation?

WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF STRINGENT PRIVACY REGULATIONS?

1. Targeted advertising may be dampened a bit due to ID loss.
2. Consumers may begin to experience slightly more irrelevant ad content than earlier.
3. Companies that license their data from third parties may be in a tough position as they don’t have a direct relationship with their customers.

Advertisers across the globe are still struggling to measure the reach and frequency of their campaigns, particularly across platforms. Will these privacy changes put more pressure on measurement tactics? Who will gain from these changes in data privacy?

WINNERS AND LOSERS

1. Many believe that consumers, media companies, and advertisers will all be impacted negatively.
2. Companies that have first-party consumer data will come out the least impacted.
3. Additionally, companies like Verizon and ATT, which have a huge reservoir of valuable first-party data, will be able to leverage it in different ways.

The experts noted that everything now done on our smart TVs results in rich digital data for advertisers and publishers.

As we begin to see a lot more contextual advertising, there is likely to be more investment by publishers in NLP and video image processing. What other innovations can be expected thanks to increased privacy regulations?

FUTURE EXPECTATIONS

1. New players may come into the market with the workaround innovation to capture ID but maintain privacy.
2. Consumers may be offered incentives to opt-in.
3. Loss of IDs will not impact work in deep learning models for attribution and mixed media modeling.
4.  Ad companies may hire specialists whose job will be to develop ID graphs which their brands can use.

Ultimately, the feeling is positive as change that creates contention often triggers market forces to innovate. As data privacy begins to fall into place, the new issue is data security and effective measurement.