What happens when our common currency becomes uncommon?

"This is not new news, of course, but many in the industry seem to be finally waking up to the hard truth that data-driven media buying, as we know it today, is severely under threat and has to change. Cookies power everything we do, from humble frequency capping through to complex multi-touch attribution models, ad personalisation and audience segmentation. They underpin most of the gains we've made in performance advertising, as well as brand advertising, over the past decade."

"The frontrunner seems to be Unified ID 2.0, which uses an email or phone number. The key question, though, is whether these solutions will be enough to allow marketers to continue to do their jobs. Google's announcement last week that they won't support these solutions across their core ad and analytical products only adds fuel to the fire about the breakdown in the longstanding relationship between DSPs and DMPs, which will no longer be speaking the same language."

Cookies, the common currency across DSPs and DMPs for the past 14 years, are being removed, undermining frequency capping, multi-touch attribution, ad personalisation, and audience segmentation. The loss of opted-in data sources erodes the currency that enabled gains in performance and brand advertising. Proposed alternatives proliferate, with Unified ID 2.0 (using email or phone) emerging as a frontrunner, but doubts remain about their sufficiency for marketers. Google's decision not to support such solutions across core ad and analytics products exacerbates fragmentation between DSPs and DMPs. The disruption has triggered market reactions and public concern from senior industry stakeholders.

Read at The Drum