Looks like Google’s first attempt to shut down the circus known as “ad tech” was more clown car than Big Top. Pretty much every publisher is confused – with reason.
It’s not often that a big company reverses a much-ballyhooed announcement creating a dramatic and irreversible change in its primary marketplace. But that’s what Google has done with its announcement that it will continue to allow so-called cookie-based ad targeting through 2023.
This is a big deal as anyone in your business reporting staff will tell you. The market dominance of Google is starting to show cracks. The ad tech giant’s grip on absolute power and authority in the digital ad world is slipping.
So here’s our take on Why Google Will Keep the Cookie (and what it means for publishers).
Things are not going well on the tech front. To us regular people, it may sound easy for Google to gather lots of information about people using its Chrome browser and then use that to target ads. They’re Google, right? But, software engineering at this level is seriously complicated Google may have gotten a little bit ahead of itself.
Gossip about Google being poorly managed and risk averse might be true. With great power comes great responsibility, not to mention press and regulatory scrutiny. Google might have pulled back rather than push ahead to avoid internal conflicts and bad press – especially if the tech isn’t sound.
Amazon said it would not go along with Google’s new ad scheme. Amazon has deployed technology to block Google’s Chrome from collecting information from its sites. If Amazon follows through, t hat means a lot of good data about consumer behavior won’t be available to Google.
Regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union have been taking a close look at Google’s FLOC system with many saying – almost immediately – that it would benefit Google to the detriment of other platforms, likely stirring up antitrust drama. Amazon’s action underscores this point.
And lastly, Google’s announcement came the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives started a collection of antitrust bills on the path to passage. This lawmaking is by no means fast-tracked. It takes years of negotiation to get legislation like this passed, b ut it’s an indication of the seriousness with which Congress is taking Big Tech’s role in our lives.
This is an opportunity for publishers to look at alternatives that aren’t dictated by Google. Spot-On thinks this is a good time for publishers to think again about how they manage political ads sales as a revenue stream, one that could be as lucrative to all news outlets as it has always been for TV.
We’re here to help with that effort. Spot-On’s Pinpoint Placement ad buying platform automates direct ad buying to help your outlet reach political campaign and public affairs buyers with money to spend to reach your readers. Drop us a line and we’ll set you up with a demo.
