The Media Advertising newsletter (Nov '24)

(12 minute read)

Greetings from London, UK as usual.?

This is the latest (November) monthly newsletter for senior, global media executives interested in the future of media advertising.?

This month is a special focus on the whys and wherefores of Google’s decision to abandon the cookie deprecation and what it actually all means (as far as we know thus far). Plus a focus on attention metrics and why they are the next frontier for digital advertising measurement.

As you will see, the two topics are far from being mutually exclusive. And what might well link them is better creativity.

THE COOKIE ISN’T CRUMBLING AFTER ALL. OR IS IT?

In recent weeks, Google pulled the plug on blocking cookies, and in doing so, threw the world of advertising, marketing and media into a lot of confusion.?Let’s break it down as to what it all means?

The background

Internet cookies have been around for over 30 years and are necessary for things like remembering your online basket or keeping us all logged in. While first-party cookies (1PC) serve practical purposes, third-party cookies (3PC) are used by the tech giants like Facebook and Google to track users across different sites. In doing so, they create detailed profiles for targeted ads.

This may sound good for publishers since they can use the cookies for better ad targeting and increase their revenue but the reality is, it has led to market dominance by a few major players. In short, it has resulted in reduced ad revenues for many publishers as well as compromising user privacy.

And as privacy concerns grew, browsers like Firefox and Safari responded by blocking 3PC. Google, on the other hand, refused to block 3PC outright. They have now, after all this time and talk of cookie deprecation, has opted to develop proprietary alternatives instead, giving themselves, control over user data.

For publishers (to safeguard ad revenue and protect user data), we must now explore new alternatives to 3PC such as new revenue focusses (eg e-commerce, audio, events at al), and first party data (1PD) strategies.

So, what has happened exactly?

Google has announced that, after four years, it is abandoning its plan to stop (3PC) from Chrome and instead offer users the ability to turn cookies off, if they want to, at browser level. This, in reality, brings to an end their Privacy Sandbox, i.e. the venture Google set up to end the use of cookies that gather 3P user info as people surf the web. Google says, “we developed the Privacy Sandbox with the goal of finding innovative solutions that meaningfully improve online privacy while preserving an ad-supported internet that supports a vibrant ecosystem of publishers, connects businesses with customers, and offers all of us free access to a wide range of content. We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility.” So that’s clear then, not!

What’s the Google logic?

Google says its because they have been considerate of the impact / upheaval of the changes that would be likely on publishers, advertisers and everyone involved in online advertising. (That’s debatable by the way, as I will mention later). Instead, Google is introducing a “new experience in Chrome” that lets users make an informed choice across their web browsing, which they’d be able to adjust at any time.

So, what’s the impact?

1. For advertisers

The bigger implication will be for advertisers. They will continue to be able to gather data on web users and continue to tailor experiences to those users. Many even argue that cookies actually make the web better. Jury is out on that.

2. For media

Without 3PC, website owners were struggling to figure out how to monetise their audiences and this is one of the reasons there's been such an increase in gated or paywalled content in recent years. However, many publishers began developing 1PD strategies when they thought the cookie deprecation was coming. That work is not wasted as 1PD will be increasingly be important.

3. For commerce

The impact is likely to have a real impact on commerce, with many vendors able to rely on access to third party data targeted ads and so better click through rates. However, it may also hit the developing, commerce media market, where vendors and retailers have done much to leverage their 1PD to sell advertising space on their websites to brands seeking to target those users.

This potentially huge business area could well be harmed by the resurrection of cookies as many brands won't feel the need to reinvent what they already have. The industry feeling seems to be around commerce media taking a hit from the non-demise of cookies, however some think that it will be good for brands all round. Again, jury is still out.

1PD: The holy grail?

Even with Google's latest decision on cookies, 1PD remains the new currency for many. Gathering information to create a total view of your consumer base using 1PD, is crucial in helping businesses, especially media companies, stand out from an increasingly competitive media market and be able to offer unique insights as a result, at a premium.

So, what lies ahead?

The Internet Advertising Board (IAB) point out that, while ending the cookie deprecation is probably welcome, the detail lies in what happens next. Given the lack of detailed information thus far (ie what Google proposes to introduce instead of deprecating third-party cookies), it is currently challenging to fully assess the implications of their announcement on the broader eco-system. Much remains unclear.

Three years ago, Apple launched a privacy safeguard called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which lets people say yes or no to sharing their data or Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) with apps and sites via a prompt. What Google does next could mean something similar. But who knows? After what’s gone before with the cookie scenario, who could accurately predict the future now? Google might throw the industry another curveball. If the whole saga of 3PC has taught advertising execs anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

In essence, Google says it wants to give users the choice of how to manage their 3PC. It now proposes having a new set of tools to replace 3PC, but scepticism remains about whether this will truly benefit the broader market (or just Google!). Will they just consolidate Google’s control over data management and reduce any transparency? Concerns also remain about whether it will truly enhance user privacy.

For now, details on what all this actually will transpire into remain minimal. And as for a timeframe, Google seems to have learned its lesson from the numerous delays to its death-by-cookie plans i.e. there isn’t one.

What seems to be needed is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the ad industry and Google itself to devise a way which truly supports informed consent and makes it easy for users to allow personalised advertising, which, in turn, support websites which they like and value.

Watch this space.

IPD is king?

But one thing is for sure. 1PD strategies were the right thing to pursue for publishers, as that is not just about gathering information. It’s about making informed decisions that drive advertisers’ audiences customer satisfaction and business growth. When used effectively, 1PD should radically transform how we engage with our clients’ customers and the insights 1PD generate, can be used as a premium service.

You hard work which began largely during the Covid era, was not in vain.

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THE ATTENTION ECONOMY : WHERE SHOULD PUBLISHERS FIT IN?

(And why all roads lead to better creativity)

In today’s fast-paced digital world, capturing the attention of consumers has become a high-stakes battle for publishers and creators. With many sources of information competing for our attention, it’s little wonder that news publishers are struggling to keep up.

Indeed, recent studies show that only four minutes of the average consumer’s day is spent reading news directly on publishers’ websites, compared to 95 minutes spent on TikTok. See chart below.

While news consumption remains an important part of many people’s daily lives, the reality is that, for some, it’s not capturing attention like other forms of media.

Despite the fact that the majority of consumers are likely to be consuming news products every day, they’re simply not spending enough time on digital news to make it their priority. Are we being creative enough with what we offer and how we promote our offerings?

In 2022, consumers in the USA, for example, spent an average of 494 minutes per day consuming digital media (source: @cosmoene), but news only represented a small amount of that time. This highlights a “perception bias” among publishers, some of whom seem to assume they have more attention and importance in user’s daily lives, than they actually do. Again, I ask, are we being creative enough with what we offer and how we promote our offerings?

Capturing attention. Why are publishers struggling?

One possible explanation why we struggle sometimes is subscription fatigue, which has become a hot topic in the media industry. A huge 73% of US consumers don’t have a single subscription to any news publication, a worrying trend that may be linked to the high cost of total household subscriptions (news, coffee, gym etc) and the amount of monthly family budgets being allocated to such…and the abundance of free news online.

But there may be other factors too. In an era of information overload, people are increasingly selective about the content they choose to consume, and news publishers may simply be

1. failing to offer content that captures modern audiences’s attention for more than a few minutes. And/or…
2. not being creative enough…again in what we offer or how we promote.

Additionally, the rise of social media platforms (which are indeed, creative media forms) have changed the way we consume news, with many users turning to social media for their daily information. Ask yourself why, in comparison to what you offer?

Asked how publishers should be shaping themselves for this new world, Opti Digital co-founder, Sebastien Moutte said: “Make sure that you work with partners that are ready to monetise and segment your audience(s) and properly analyse them. Make sure that the advertiser that wants to buy your audience will have the right signals* received from your audience to target your readers properly and get a high ROI”.

*And those "right signals” are increasingly pointing to attention metrics.

I asked a leader in this space, Mike Nicholson, founder of social content and communications experts, Six Sells (@sixsellsUK).

He said there are three areas gaining momentum (but with caution), which can help us focus on more important measures to concentrate on, in attracting advertisers.

1. Active Attention: Did a real human look at the ad directly?

Pros: It’s real, human data, so the most accurate.

Cons: Panel based, so can’t be measured deterministically, at scale, on live campaigns.

2. Viewability: Did the ad get served onto a screen, and in such a way that a human could have seen it, if they paid attention?

Pros: Machines can measure probabilistic data, in flight, and at scale.

Cons: Not an accurate predictor of human attention, because being ABLE to see something and actually SEEING it are often different things.

3. Time-in-view: The duration of viewability. How long was the ad on-screen and in such a way that a human COULD see it if they paid attention?

Pros: As viewability above: machines can measure probabilistic data, in flight, and at scale.

Cons: As viewability: not an accurate predictor of human attention, because being ABLE to see something for a period of time and actually SEEING it are very different things.

Mike said (on the subject of publishers gaining properly recorded, audience attention): “Personally, I would love to see us move towards a future where? every website or app that wants to compete for premium advertising has a full “human attention’ audit, which gives actual, observed human attention, measured in milliseconds via independent eye-tracking studies, and conducted for each major ad unit on the site/app”

He continued “On a not-unrelated note, I would also say that we all also need to up our game with ad creativity online, because the difference between getting 0.1 seconds of attention in a premium ad placement, and 2.1 seconds in that same placement, is the ad creative’.

Whatever the cause(s) of our audiences and advertisers looking elsewhere for their news content, it’s very clear that media companies need to adapt to the changing media landscape if they want to survive.

From innovative content strategies to new/diversified, “rev gen” business models, to new measures of success, we all need to keep up with the latest trends and ideas that are shaping the future of media.

Back next month with more of those trends and ideas, particularly around the future advertising trends we can expect for 2025.

See you then. Don’t miss it.

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So, what’s your view on all this? Do let me know? Email: [email protected] (News Media UK Consulting)

This is YOUR newsletter. Get involved!

Any comments, observations to include, please email us? It ls a great opportunity to share your thoughts with your peers in a large, growing community of media professionals across the world (there are now well over 1,000 people taking this newsletter in over 50 countries globally).

See you again next month.

Yours in advertising

Mark

Mark Challinor

CEO, News Media UK consultancy

Email: [email protected]

X: @challinor. Mob: + 44 (0)7584 206568

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Mark Challinor is CEO of News Media UK Consultancy, offering free advice, guidance & strategy consultancy for media & non media companies as to the future of advertising. Areas of specialism: first party data strategy, sales team structures, new revenue streams, multi-channel advertising, new formats etc. If you or are looking for advice, strategy or inspiration within a presenter, consultancy or even NED capacity, please get in touch?