Signal: Introducing signal+, clarity in an increasingly complex media and advertising world.

NEWS: signal+ is launching today.

signal+ is a paid subscription newsletter that will post 2x exclusive pieces of analysis and explainers every week with video, as well as other exclusive insights and trends documents, as well as continue to publish the free weekly signal newsletter.

signal+ has a simple purpose - to create clarity for decision makers within an increasingly complex media and advertising world. It will cover issues and developments, not individuals. signal+ focuses on the analysis and explanation of critical areas shaping media, advertising and marketing right now. Its focus is on the key developments, technologies and application impacting how billions of dollars of advertising investment is spent.

signal+ will be priced at $12 per month, or if you want the annual version it will cost just $119 for 12 months. Discounts are available for 2 of more subscriptions purchased at the same time. With 3 pieces every week, that is less than $1 per piece.

signal+ will publish on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Saturday post will also continue to appear here on LinkedIn FOR FREE.

You can subscribe to signal+ here: https://signaldata.substack.com

Signal+ preview: When you're both 'the product', and 'the buyer'

One of the smartest things the digital platforms have done is create a buyer-seller relationship with their advertisers that ensures a mammoth firehose of advertiser data is available free of charge to the platforms.

Check the Meta terms covering this area. A tonne of client side data makes its way direct to Meta via tools like the Facebook pixel. The position is that this data helps to improve ad delivery, targeting, and result measurement. And this is probably true.

But it also leaks out a tonne of data that for the advertiser makes the business of acquiring new customers as well as holding existing ones a lot harder.

In connection with ad targeting and ads delivery, we will: (i) use your Event Data for ads delivery only after aggregating such Event Data with other data collected from other advertisers or otherwise collected on Meta Products; and (ii) not allow other advertisers or third parties to target advertising solely on the basis of your Event Data.

Let me explain. Let’s say you’re Beauty Company X. You’re reliant on Meta ads, and have the Facebook Pixel all over your website. You might even have installed Conversions API (more on that later) to ensure Meta gets as much data as possible. This is great for you as feels like it helps you target better, and it ensures the CAC and the measurement you push up the management chain remains looking effective.

The problem here is all this data becomes part of an aggregated set that can be used in aggregate. It can be used to target beauty consumers, or people who live in a certain area, or have specific interests. It’s likely Meta has this data and all your competitors data and can aggregate this and sell it back to you all. When someone is on your website and has abandoned a cart, its possible this is being sent to Meta. And a competitor can bid on that very customer. One of your super loyal customers could also be shared with Meta, and this customer could be very lucrative for your competitors, or an adjacent category.

And you’re just handing it to them. For free. I would argue the majority of signals the platforms receive that are used for advertising monetisation are being handed over free of charge by the same advertisers every year spending 15-25% more.

If you think that’s a bit crazy, let me explain conversions APIs.

Conversion API’s came about largely as a response to increase privacy controls on browsers such as Apple’s Safari. What these controls did was restrict the flow of user data that could go to platforms via browsers and via devices like the iPhone. At the same time legislation around the world began to be more restrictive on the unimpeded flow of user data, and ‘data matching’ techniques also started to become less accurate. The best metaphor is that the clear roads that carried all this valuable, and free user data, started to become more restricted and blocked.

So the idea of Conversions APIs was to just build a new set of roads that couldn’t be blocked by external parties or the government.

If you look above, a tonne of data flowed from businesses (advertisers) to platforms. But the orange boxes show where the blockages started to occur. The thick black line indicates Conversions APIs - a clear new road where the business (advertiser) just gives the platform full access to their customers.

In addition to event data (i.e. cart elements, actions, abandons, any sort of ‘event’) there is also a lot of valuable user info that is not hashed.

It’s worth noting companies give us this data voluntarily, and for free. Most companies do it due to a reliance on platforms either for a. audience renting or b. perception of efficacy, But as the terms note, this data can be used as long as its aggregated. So you can bet it is being used.

Being used to create audience segments every competitor can use. Audience segments you are required to bid on as well. Data leakage that just continues to extend the reliance most companies have on these platforms.

The exchange here feels inequitable. Meta is growing at 20-30% per annum. How many of its customers are? And it’s the same for most of the large platforms - they are all demanding conversions API installation.

We talk a big game about first party data. It’s a fools belief. For most businesses, you’ve handed all this data you claim is so valuable to the digital platforms. And you pay them for the privilege as well. Madness.