New Figures behind the Fact: What are the Impacts of the Topics API on Publisher's Revenue?

By Stanislav Kaschiyski

As cookies disappear, ad buyers may favor platforms like Google over open internet publishers for predictable growth. This shift could divert spending towards GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon) due to their superior targeting capabilities.

Consequently, publishers reliant on open demand face significant declines in programmatic ad revenue. Our latest AY Industry Insights Report on Google Cookie Depreciation and Topics API Impacts examines early outcomes and offers exclusive data from Assertive Yield’s database.

We'll explore insights from Chrome users without cookies, from January 12th to 18th, assessing the impact on publishers’ ad revenue across various demand channels, GEOs, and bidders.

What is cookieless tracking?

The Topics API, part of Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative, offers privacy-preserving alternatives to third-party cookies. Instead of tracking individual user behavior across the web, it groups users based on their browsing interests.?

Here's how it functions:

• The browser tracks the topics a user seems interested in based on visited websites.
• ?These topics are stored locally on the user's device, not on external servers.
• When visiting a website utilizing the Topics API, the browser shares a limited number of relevant topics with the website and its advertising partners. This enables interest-based advertising without cross-site tracking.

In essence, cookieless tracking for publishers involves innovative methods like the Topics API to gather insights about user interests and behavior while maintaining privacy.

Key Takeaways on the Impact of Topics API on Publishers' Revenue

Our latest report reveals the outcomes of the Topics API’s control testing across three conditions: no third-party cookies with no alternatives, no third-party cookies, but with Topics API, and the existing traffic with third-party cookies enabled.?

Here are our main takeaways:

1. The? 0.75% of all Chrome users who got rid of third-party cookies and had the replacement Topics API enabled, see a Session RPM 45% lower than the existing users on the second week after the start of the cookie phase-out

1. It seems that the only positive number at the beginning of this trial, operated by Google is... Google itself. AdX and Open Bidding win rates are up 4% on average, while both Prebid and Amazon take a resounding hit.

1. The average highest bid in the Prebid Auction drops by 59%, indicating a significant disparity compared to existing traffic.

1. Looking at Session RPMs by SSP on Prebid inventory, we see that some data looks a bit better than the rest, with AppNexus and Magnite achieving “only” a 52% decrease. While others like Media.net see a significant difference.

Hopefully, the demand partners would work to better prepare for the end of the third-party cookies, otherwise, we might see an even more dominant position of Google in the programmatic space.

Check out the full insights by downloading the free report.

Cookieless Tracking: Strategies and Alternatives for Publishers

Amidst the shift towards the elimination of cookies and user tracking, publishers should prioritize these three key areas:

• Integrating and optimizing Identity solutions.
• Increasing authenticated traffic (email/phone number collection).
• Preparing for the revenue impact of the next phase of cookie depreciation.

Embracing a cookieless environment calls for creativity and reassessing established practices in targeting, bidding, tracking, and procurement.

Want to learn more about this transition with help from experts? Explore AY Industry Insights Talks, a live event showcasing Yield Intelligence Cookie Depreciation reports and fostering expert discussions on the evolving landscape.

#Publishers #ProgrammaticAdvertising #AdRevenue #digitaladvertising