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TWW 009
12th March
Hello! Just a heads-up, this edition of the Widget is a bit of a WTF & a What if, following the Google news from last week. Expect lots of thought pieces on the future of ID’s, Cookies, FLoC, FLEDGE and other Avian references.
Things you may have missed🏖
Things You Should Know (Google Edition)👀
Optimism. VIVA LA OPEN INTERNET. Jeff Green doubles down on the Unified ID 2.0, proclaiming that these changes are a good thing for Trade Desk & the Open Internet.
TL;DR - Google doesn’t make that much $$$ from the Open internet, by focusing on their owned platforms they will increase revenue plus, protect themselves from mounting privacy concerns.
Outrage. HOW DARE THEY?! Shoshana Wodinsky calls out the ‘bunk math’ of FLoC, with my favourite quote. “Tracking is still tracking, even if it’s just an aggregate.”
TL:DR - Shoshana believes that this proposal doesn’t necessarily stop people from being tracked across the web, it just ensures that Google’s the only one doing it and ignores/violates privacy.
Devolution. WE NEED TO GO BACK. “Contextual targeting”- if you haven’t received an email with this tagline recently, you’re the lucky ones. Marco Bertozzi reminisces on simpler times in Digital.
TL:DR - With all of the if, buts & maybes, this is a very different view. Would we be better off to go back to contextual buys? Would it be better to move back to a 1:1 basis with media buys? A time to put money back to Publishers, journalism and NOT to adtech.
What we’ve learned📚
Chapelle, Seinfield, Gervais. Even Netflix are after the TikTok dollarydoos! Launching a clone that allows fans to watch funny clips of the top comedians & shows.
Out of all of the clones, this is probably the best thought out in terms of content. Placement, positioning and naming are all a bit problematic though. ‘Big Laughs’? This reeks of Venture Capital bros.
“CTV is the Supreme of Programmatic, lots of hype, not a lot of supply and tonnes of counterfeits.” This quote from Simon Harris is off the back of another DoubleVerify CTV fraud discovery.
And what a quote too! This fraud scammed 2m devices per day and was generating $5m a month. Stay vigilant!
Cool Stuff😎
Unbelievable story! A man joins Facebook Group, gets added to an encrypted chat, learns of a plan to kidnap Governor & harm police, becomes FBI informant.
Michael Bay is lining up to make this into a feature film. Just a shame that Neeson has retired from Action Films!
The Nerd Corner🤓
Snap launches it’s iOS14 hub and WILL persist with the IDFA. They have been identified as a partner second to Facebook who stands to lose a fair bit following these changes - too simplistic from me?
Basically, Snap is going to play ball and will follow the orders of Apple. But will collect IDFA where available, unlike Facebook.
“Wait. What about CDP’s? Won’t someone please think of the CDP’s?!” BYOD? What next? 1st Party data is obviously key following cookie deprecation, but they need to evolve.
It will be a race to support multiple ID’s in different platforms, matching to FLoC based interest groups and secure pipes to partners. Crikey it’s messy.