CTV steps into the limelight, while Google’s Privacy Sandbox appears to stall

Welcome to the latest edition of Spotlight, your monthly summary of what’s making headlines in the world of digital advertising.

What we have for you today: The CTV advertising opportunity homes into view, the FTC mulls ordering Chrome sell-off, and data cleanrooms come under regulatory scrutiny.

TV strikes back

Ask where Gen Z youths are consuming content, and it’s likely that the response will include a litany of social media platforms. But this may no longer be entirely true. New research has found that Gen Z consumers are drawing back from social media in favour or more shared entertainment experiences, including CTV. What’s more, 58% state a preference for ad-supported content over ad-free content.

CTV is clearly the next big channel for advertisers. Indeed, it already accounts for almost half of all video ad views in Europe, and is experiencing 31% year-on-year growth. As advertisers look to reach audiences with tailored content on CTV, they will face the privacy challenge that’s common to all digital platforms. Brands that can leverage timely customer demographic and behavioural data while simultaneously complying with international privacy laws will be best placed to succeed. That means looking beyond traditional invasive tracking signals to privacy-centric alternatives.

The sandbox stumbles

Ever since Google rowed back on cookie deprecation, there seems to have been a sudden and massive industry-wide loss of interest in its Privacy Sandbox, even though its proposed opt-in model for cookies could, in the words of one industry expert, “easily be as disruptive as fully removing third-party cookies.”

Fears seem to be growing that the Privacy Sandbox will not deliver the user experience that people will expect, and that it will also significantly add to the ad industry’s carbon footprint. As the story around the Privacy Sandbox continues to unfold, the case for advertisers to look for alternative solutions seems to be growing stronger and stronger.

A rose by any other name

Meanwhile, Google is now looking to cash in on the latest industry buzzword – “curation.” For those of us with longer memories, “curation” is in fact nothing more than a new name for ad networks, whereby agencies buy through ad networks and make all the key decisions (or “curate,” if you prefer).

While ad networks may have fallen out of fashion in some markets in others, notably the Middle East and Africa, they are still going strong and have been for years. In these regions, innovative players like South Africa’s BroadBrand are building publisher-centred networks, which they are overlaying with privacy-centric audiences.

Advertisers must ask themselves a question: do they cede yet another slice of the advertising market to Google, or do they instead work with independent, alternative ad networks and leverage the latest in privacy-first addressable audiences?

All roads lead to Chrome

One last piece of Google-related news this month – rumours abound that the FTC may force the tech giant to sell off Chrome to meet its concerns around monopolistic practices in the search market.

Now this is far from a certainty. It’s possible that the incoming Trump administration will have a very different view on the antitrust case and that the breakup of Google may never happen. But let’s, for the sake of argument, assume that it does. In that case, the new owner may have a whole bunch of new ideas around cookie deprecation and the Privacy Sandbox. The adtech market could once again be turned on its head, opening yet more opportunities for adtech innovators and agile publishers and advertisers. The next few months could prove very interesting indeed.

Clean your room!

Google is not the only one coming under the FTC’s spotlight. This month, the regulator gave notice to data clean room operators that it has the technology in its sites. According to the FTC, data clean rooms “are not silver bullets for privacy,” and implementing a data clean room is no guarantee that data is being managed securely. Organisations still need to meet their legal obligations that data is being handled correctly.

This is all true, and something we at Novatiq have long argued. However, the data clean room market is maturing, and not every platform is alike. A new type of data clean room is emerging that is much clearer around how data is being used and much stricter from a privacy point of view. Data clean rooms can have an important place in the digital advertising market of tomorrow, but brands need to conduct due diligence to make sure the platform they use is up to scratch from a compliance perspective.

More from Novatiq

If you’re looking to explore more trends and topics relating to digital marketing and privacy protection, why not read our latest blog. This month, we’re looking at for our privacy-first world.