The big cookie reversal.

Hold the front page! We've got news so hot the ink is still drying.?

Before we dive in, however, we simply must wish you a Happy Colorado Day!?

Although our Top Fox Marketing foxes are sprinkled all throughout the world, our roots are in Boulder. Last week, we were lucky enough to bring the whole gang together for a company-wide retreat in Boulder!

Cookies are soooo back. ??

[third party cookie] (noun): HTTP cookies placed on a website by someone other than the owner (ie. a third party) to collect user data for the third party.

We’ve chatted about Google's looming?third-party cookie phaseout?in bits and crumbles throughout the past year.??

Well, news just dropped that Google is planning to KEEP third-party cookies!

?? Hold the phone. Why the reversal? "Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they'd be able to adjust that choice at any time," said Anthony Chavez, VP of Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative.

Heavy sigh—one marketer called Google’s pivot on cookies “the biggest tease in the history of digital marketing,” while another said that Google was “caught between two regulatory forces – privacy versus competition – with ultimately different objectives.”

We, however, are thrilled. At the end of the day, Google’s decision will benefit marketers and advertisers. That's because cookies help marketers learn a user's browsing behaviors and preferences to more effectively tailor ads and experiences to the consumer.

What are your thoughts on the big cookie walk-back?

Google's privacy experiment.

In related news, Google just published the results from a Google Ad Manager experiment where the performance of Privacy Sandbox APIs was evaluated against third-party cookies.?

FYI: Google’s Privacy Sandbox is an initiative designed to enhance online privacy while still enabling targeted advertising.

Key findings from the experiment showed that removing third-party cookies without Privacy Sandbox APIs resulted in a significant revenue drop for publishers:

• -34% for Google Ad Manager
• -21% for Google AdSense

However, using Privacy Sandbox APIs reduced this impact, showing a smaller revenue decline:

• -20% for Google Ad Manager
• -18% for Google AdSense

Go ahead, nerd out on the experiment results. We won't stop you!

AI's rapid evolution is ridiculous.

Just this week, Google released new AI tools for Performance Max campaigns, including asset-level conversion reporting, YouTube video placement reporting, third-party verification, AI-powered image editing, and more!

Getty Images just updated its model for its commercially safe generative AI tools. Key features include an industry-leading generation speed of just 6 seconds, 4K generation detail, and complex prompts up to 250 words. Try it out.

SearchGPT is coming… In a just-released announcement, OpenAI announced it is testing a SearchGPT prototype, which “will quickly and directly respond to your questions with up-to-date information from the web while giving you clear links to relevant sources. You’ll be able to ask follow-up questions, like you would in a conversation with a person, with the shared context building with each query.” And yes, you can join the waitlist!

Meta reported that digital ad sales surged to $39.1 billion last quarter, marking a 22% increase from the previous year. The increase signals that Meta’s investment in AI is boosting the effectiveness of personalized ad sales. In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said, “We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year.” We believe it — Meta’s stock jumped 7% in mere hours after the reports went live.

Pssst: If you love all things AI, join the AI Marketing Forum with Jason Cormier (it’s free).

What we're reading...

Our client, Cindy (Kram) Carrillo released a workbook TODAY!?

If you're into personal and professional growth, this workbook is for you. The exercises are meant to accompany Cindy's 2023 best-selling book, "Finding Your Nxt," so pick up a copy of that too if you haven't read it yet.

Congratulations, Cindy!