Written by Chief Product Officer – Adam Shaffner, Vivienne Duclos and Meghan Brito

Google released a statement Wednesday speaking to the future of the cookie and tracking individuals across the internet. This has caused many to question how this will affect The Trade Desk (TTD) and similar technology moving forward. While it may have come as a shock to some, we know digital advertising is an ever-evolving business, and as such, this is not new news to us. We see ourselves as “Switzerland” when these digital giants start throwing rocks at each other. This blog post by The Trade Desk states “Google is making a trade. With this announcement, Google is doubling down on its own properties, such as search and YouTube and adding bricks to the walls around those properties. The trade-off is that Google no longer values serving ads on the rest of the internet as much — certainly not as much as they once did.” Another key note to understand from TTD is that “Unified ID 2.0 has been designed with the consumer in the driver’s seat. The consumer’s information is not identifiable. The consumer controls how their data is shared. And the consumer gets a simple, clear explanation of the value exchange of relevant advertising in return for free content. With this approach, Unified ID 2.0 has the best opportunity to become a new common currency of the open internet. It’s already beginning. It is a common currency that pays off the value exchange of the internet in a way that benefits publishers, advertisers and consumers. It is also one that cannot be controlled by any one company, including Apple or Google.”

This new UID 2.0 identifier aims not only to replace the cookie and enhance user privacy/transparency but also to widen the reach of the technology, spanning all digital channels. This is particularly exciting as it aims to operate in areas where the cookie currently falls short i.e. Streaming TV, Mobile Apps, etc., all with a single ID. Overall, these changes are going to help advertisers and improve tracking while protecting consumer privacy.

A key takeaway here is that everyone is aiming to develop a new infrastructure that will not effectively restart the industry, but rather replace the mechanism (the cookie) with another ID that accomplishes much of the same with regards to granular, relevant targeting and measurement without upsetting the apple cart. We expect the evolution towards more relevant advertising, along with increased user privacy and control is not only possible but will become a reality in 2021.

AdCellerant will continue to watch the horizon, vet new technologies, and ensure that our partners and advertisers are educated and prepared for any necessary changes. We will be providing quarterly updates, if not more frequently as developments are announced and realized.

Below are some other key details about Google’s change and The Trade Desk to understand and use when speaking with any advertiser that may have concerns.

• The Trade Desk’s (TTD) solution is truly a “unified” ID. There are many power players involved in the new solution including a non-biased party, Prebid.org in order to make sure the solution is truly open-sourced. According to Prebid’s charter, “its purpose is to operate infrastructure on behalf of the industry in cases where trust and transparency is required and a for-profit entity just isn’t an appropriate choice.”
• Multiple companies are making their own solutions and IDs. However, the best platform will work with any and all ID solutions. 
• AdCellerant has already been testing and planning ahead for the cookieless future since the fall of 2019 and in Q2 of this year it will be the focus for all new product testing.
• This is an ever-evolving situation, and over the next 6-8 months as things will continue to change, AdCellerant has planned for this and is already in Beta programs and testing to ensure we stay in front of the coming changes.

AdCellerant has been working with our technology partners and industry leaders to prepare for a post-cookie environment since late 2019. We value the changes being made in the name of increased user privacy, transparency, and control of their data. We see these changes as necessary and are excited for the new opportunities that are and will continue to arise. We take pride in being platform agnostic, working alongside the tech giants that drive these changes and headlines and also with the multitude of smaller players whose innovations greatly expand not only our reach but our opportunities to provide best-in-class digital advertising solutions to the smallest of businesses.

As it stands today, there are dozens of cookieless identifiers being developed and tested, and AdCellerant will be participating in beta testing in Q2 of this year. All of these new identity solutions can exist in parallel, and can be leveraged differently for specific use cases. Platforms are already developing the infrastructure to accept, process, and execute on these emerging identifiers. There will be some that keep their solutions closed and restricted to their own platforms, and others are working together to create open-source solutions that can translate more easily across existing infrastructures. For this reason, we continue to diversify our technology partnerships to ensure that no matter what happens, we will be ready to help our partners navigate this changing space with a minimal negative impact on their business.