David Kohl’s Post

Wow, I cannot believe it's been seven years already 🤯 David's post below describes the first day that we launched the TRUSTX exchange, back in May of 2017. We were three bright-eyed and bushy-tailed amigos, planning to take the programmatic media ecosystem by storm. We were a B-corp with principles of trust and transparency at our core, had the highest standards in programmatic trading, and we were backed by some of the most recognized and trusted media companies in the world. I mean, how could we not? Well...it really did take almost a month of trading just to offset the cost of the celebratory cocktails enjoyed at the close of day 1 😅 I don't think any of us truly understood or appreciated the complexities of building a programmatic exchange from scratch, and just how difficult it would be. I also think that if programmatic trading algorithms could talk, they would have told us that they were utterly confused by what we were doing, and begged us to stop and go home. It's a good thing they can't talk.... We learned A LOT in those first few weeks. Humbled and inspired, we persevered - and slowly, we managed to gain our publisher's trust. Now, seven years later, I can tell you that we never stopped learning, and we built a culture at TRUSTX where every single decision we make starts with the same question: "Is this the best we can do for our customers, and for our industry at large?" Alas, the 55 cents that TRUSTX earned on the first day of trading continued to grow, sustainably and responsibly, and our mission to support and protect the economic vibrancy of the open-internet has never been more clear than it is today. I'm thrilled to join David Kohl in announcing the launch of the next chapter of our evolution with Symitri, an integrated privacy firewall and real-time data cleanroom for the open web. A simple solution to a complex problem, Symitri powers deterministic campaign targeting, measurement, and attribution, without exposing any personal data—pseudonymous or otherwise—to the bidstream. To learn more about Symitri and to opt in for updates, please visit www.symitri.com and be sure to follow Symitri here on LinkedIn. We’re excited to share more in the weeks to come!

Online advertising. This is old news to some and new to me as I am not in that sector: Adalytics reporting has cast doubt on Google/Youtube's claim that they do not target children with personalised ads, and also that they do not track and collect children's data. The report itself seems thorough and evidence based. If true this means that Google are breaking the law and violating the terms of their previous settlement on their (alleged) violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). From the VideoWeek article on the Adalytic's findings: "While YouTube says it doesn’t run personalised ads on made-for-kids content, Adalytics claimed it does. Alongside this, the report claimed that YouTube was seen dropping advertising cookies for viewers watching made-for-kids content, and created tracking IDs for users who had clicked on ads on made-for-kids content. And it also made claims that YouTube’s tools were ineffective at enabling advertisers to avoid made-for-kids content." https://lnkd.in/dMB5wGuF

'The Protected Audience API' Continued" Google's Privacy Sandbox represents a seismic shift in how online ads operate. It's not just a new technology; it's a bold step towards a more private and user-friendly web experience. At the heart of this revolution is the "Protected Audience API." This innovative tool allows browsers to collect user interests without compromising privacy, creating a win-win scenario for both users and advertisers. Interest groups, ad auctions, and on-device processes work together to provide users with personalized content without resorting to invasive cross-site tracking. Google's commitment to this initiative is evident, with three years of meticulous development. The company has taken a proactive approach, openly collaborating with the industry to address privacy concerns and create a sustainable advertising ecosystem. The End of Tracking The Privacy Sandbox aims to end the era of user tracking, providing a practical alternative to the current invasive practices. As the technology gains traction, legislative changes are anticipated to follow, potentially outlawing internet user profiling. As we step into 2024, Google's Privacy Sandbox promises a more private online experience, free from the annoyances of cookie permission pop-ups. It's a testament to the industry giant's commitment to innovation, user privacy, and the evolution of web technology. The era of personalized advertising without compromising user data has arrived, and it's here to stay.

The IAB Tech Lab, has identified several stark issues facing media companies, advertisers and the broader industry in adapting Google's #privacysandbox, the company's proposed alternative to cookie tracking, and has criticised the significant limitations and lack of transparency on offer with the next-gen technology: https://lnkd.in/gXqpkbJH #cookies #digitaladvertising #digitalmarketing #privacy #cookielessfuture #targeting #publishers #adtech #media

"Behavioral advertising [...] involves observing individual behavior such as browsing habits, mouse clicks and app usage, then using that data to build profiles for targeting ads." This definition was given by ABC News recently. This is relevant because the "European data regulator has agreed to extend a ban imposed by non-EU member Norway on "behavioural advertising" on Facebook and Instagram to cover all 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area", as was stated by Reuters on Nov 1. Hence, individual targeting will be getting harder, affecting firms' profits and most likely competition not only in advertising markets. Because companies like Meta offer platform services, effects in one market will also affect other markets, as those markets are linked through network effects. https://lnkd.in/eMVVMhrU https://lnkd.in/eDM_DPuZ

Interesting read - RTB House's Product-level TURTLEDOVE - which integrates with the Privacy Sandbox's Protected Audience API. This solution emphasises targeting users based on Interest Groups rather than individual data, ensuring ads are relevant by showcasing products users have viewed and those popular within their Interest Group. Preliminary tests suggest that such methods can retain over 90% of current recommendation effectiveness, and this number will be even higher by the day of launch. https://lnkd.in/eyjySDsq #privacy #personalization #cookieless #deeplearning

The Week That Was in Media | September 14th   1.     Google’s cookie-replacing Privacy Sandbox live on Chrome Google's Chrome browser has taken a significant step towards eliminating third-party cookies by making its Privacy Sandbox's relevance and measurement APIs generally available. These APIs are now accessible by default in Chrome without any special settings or trials. Only 3% of users will remain unaffected initially for A/B testing purposes, with full availability to follow. Chrome also introduced new ad privacy controls for users. This milestone primarily benefits developers and advertisers, allowing them to prepare for the eventual deprecation of third-party cookies, planned for the second half of next year. Significant changes to these APIs are unlikely, as Google has already received substantial industry feedback. In Q1 2024, Chrome will turn off third-party cookie support for 1% of users, and an opt-in testing mode will be available for developers later this year.   2.     Why Facebook, Google And Amazon Are Embracing Media Mix Modeling The major advertising platforms, Meta, Google, and Amazon, are investing in media mix modeling (MMM) to address privacy restrictions, even if it means crediting their competitors for conversions. They are embracing MMM, a statistical method to measure the effectiveness of advertising channels, as privacy constraints limit other attribution methods. These platforms are developing tools like Robyn (Meta) and automated MMM applications (Amazon) to help brands analyze their data for ad effectiveness. Google is also exploring building an MMM tool. While MMM is a decades-old technique, its revival is driven by privacy concerns, with large platforms leveraging their data for more accurate modeling. Small to mid-sized brands and agencies find these platform-provided MMMs attractive, but trustworthiness remains a concern for larger brands and agencies with sophisticated in-house data operations.   3.     LinkedIn Lets Users Search For All Branded Content Partnerships LinkedIn has introduced a new search function called "Brand Partnerships Search" in its public Ad Library database. Users can search for branded content partnerships using keywords and post-dates, offering insights for creators, brands, and competitors. This move aligns with LinkedIn's efforts to boost sponsored content and comply with the EU's Digital Services Act.   4.     Meta to shutter Facebooks dedicated News tab in parts of Europe The dedicated news tab will continue in the US and Australia. Meta will maintain current agreements with publishers in affected countries. The move comes as Meta focuses on areas like short-form video, with news accounting for less than 3% of user content. This shift aligns with previous moves to deprioritize the news tab in certain regions. ...continued in comment #cookielessfuture #sandbox #mediamixmodeling #linkedin #brandedcontent #newsonfacebook

Meta's recent proposal to introduce paid, ad-free options for European users has ignited discussions about the future of social media. As the company adapts to evolving regulatory requirements, this move could mark a significant shift away from the era of 'free' social media supported by targeted advertising. It also raises questions about the implications of ad-free models for political communications, potentially offering a more transparent and regulated environment for political campaigns. The social media landscape is undergoing transformation, and the ramifications of these changes are yet to be fully understood. https://lnkd.in/dDN75DsM

The moat deepens... === Google is developing a two-hop proxy to enhance privacy for Chrome users, which has three big implications for advertisers: For ad location targeting, you’ll only have the option to target regions designated by Google, which won’t be accurate. Because Google Chrome will use a proxy to connect to websites, it will mask users’ identities, meaning advertisers cannot distinguish between genuine and bot traffic. Google is increasing its collection of uniquely valuable location data, which could increase advertisers’ costs. Why we care. The two-hop proxy is only implemented on Chrome, meaning Google will have a monopoly on this data. No other search engines will have any data for advertisers to use for location targeting. This could effectively eliminate competition in the search ads space. #privacy #advertising #google #searchadvertising #SEM

Meta was fined 390m for behavioural ad targeting. What does this mean for targeting via Meta and using behavioural data? The Irish Data Protection Commission has issued a final decision on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, fining the company a total of 390 million euros. The fine was breaching GDPR and using the wrong legal basis for collecting consumer data for personalised targeting. This greatly impacts Meta, as behavioural profiling makes up a considerable percentage of the companies’ profit. Meta was utilising “contract” as their legal basis, claiming targeting a consumer with personalised ads was necessary for providing their service to the consumer. I can see the potential argument for this - to keep Meta free, they rely on advertising. However, non-personalised advertising still drives revenues, and it would be a hard push to argue that personalised targeting was necessary to deliver the service. This looming decision may explain Meta’s announcement last week to charge for an ad-free service. So what does it mean for Behavioural Targeting? A) Behavioural targeting is still legal, but you must ensure the grounds for doing so are correct. B) When choosing your grounds, ensure you putting yourself in the consumer’s shoes and not the business’s. Embrace Data Protection Impact Assessments C)Consent options need to be provided where appropriate, taking into account the requirements for clarity and granularity. D)Organisations must also be transparent with users in privacy notices so that it's clear which data is being collected and for which purposes Meta has announced that it would switch to consent for "certain data for behavioural advertising". However, GDPR does apply to any personal data for any type or processing. The word "behavioural advertisement" does not exist in law. If Meta, for example, uses the age or location of a person, it is unclear if this would constitute a "behaviour" in the view of Meta and if the consent requirement would be complied with. Regardless of how far Meta takes consent, the availability of behavioural data in Meta will decrease. At esbconnect we offer InboxExtend (https://lnkd.in/eu6UvZyU) where brands can take advantage of our 400+ deterministic data points for targeting in Meta - including many segments that have been redacted. Drop me a note to find out more https://lnkd.in/eMhrdFxa. #customeracquisition #meta #privacy #targetaudience #firstpartydata #social #socialmedia #advertising #adtech