Triple Your Digital Ad Research Budget Now, Despite Google's Delay

We concluded that every brand marketer should reevaluate toptobottom identity and activity graphs and calibrate as necessary and triple digital research investment immediately so that you adapt and thrive amid these changesWe started this article just before Google39s announcement that they would delay the elimination of Chrome39s individual tracking technology to late 2023 After deliberation we agreed that now is still the time to begin preparation for the next generation of identityactivitymeasurement unification Do not think this initiative can take a pause It simply means shrewd marketers now have an opportunity to research properlyWe39ll outline what39s at stake issue size key vulnerabilities and implications for media pricing and marketing effectiveness and we39ll wrap with what needs to happen for a marketer to maximize this transitionStakes are high for everyoneThe degree messages can be matched to people plummets with the GoogleApple changes Marketers will have much less information to use to either bid on the impression or predict the most relevant message to deliverWe deliberately say quotmatchedquot versus quottargetedquot Targeted is a word of war and we aren39t at war with consumers Marketers try to match their value proposition to consumers who will likely respond We need updated language As one of us wrote years ago in the article quotMarketers Make Love Not Warquot it39s a better mental model to consider marketing a relationship than as a warMost marketers desire new customers When starting a relationship with that potential customer it is helpful to know something about them before starting a dialogue through advertising Apple and Google39s moves plus a host of legal changes means marketers will know a lot less We won39t be completely blind to a prospect39s interests context and some profile signifiers will remain Media owners may gain permission to share customer information but there will undoubtedly be less information than today And it may be siloed by publisher or platform rather than what is needed for equivalized evaluationOur analysis shows the typical return on investment ROI for digital advertising will decline as data about people is constrained Marketers must understand their unique ROI reduction due to identity depreciation and learn what efforts can offsetFor advertisers identity resolution changes will cost over 40 billion in profits and roughly 265 billion in revenue Publishers will lose as well We don39t have aggregate publisher losses forecast but some publishers have announced expectations Unity projects 30 million in lost revenue from changes in identity availability equal to 2025 less adinapp revenue If publishers cannot match an impression to the marketer that will pay the most for that individual value diminishesLess wellmatched ads won39t convert as well As marketers figure out their lower ROI results there will be downward pressure on CPMs to reflect this lesser value exchange If the digital marketplace resists this reset ad demand will decrease as placements become unprofitableThe most extreme example of lost value is probably retargeting advertising to those that visited your website Retargeting becomes more difficult but not impossible Marketers can ask for identity authentication and consent on product web pages but noncustomers that are browsing are unlikely to hand over their identityAlthough consumers complain about products that quotfollow me around the internetquot creeping some out the reality is retargeting keeps the product visible for a while and many prospects later decide quotnow is a good time to buyquot We have seen retargeting be the most profitable digital tactic in cases as disparate as fashion to finance to entertainmentThe No 2 disruption to marketing from identity deprecation is research specifically the insight accuracy Understanding the consumer journey will become more difficult It is hard to predict how much revenue or profit marketers might lose due to research changes but consider a few examples in modern research recruitment alone It won39t be so easy toAdvertise to recruit people that match the profileConduct attribution analysis across devices linked to an identityExecute digital AB split tests across multiple impressionsPinpoint a customer journey and fine tune the brand experiencePanels will increase importance and research costs will skyrocket Once identity data becomes obscured this is just the beginningWe doubt the consumer wins through identity reduction either Clutter will rise as publishers offset the reduced value of individual impressions through volume The odds that an ad is relevant to its audience declines and effectiveness decreases with clutter and irrelevance Simultaneously cyberbullying trolling and outsider manipulation of social media discourse gets easier as we lose authentic identity for the shadows of browserenabled identity obscurity Apple may be the only winner here earning branding points by posturing around privacyMarketers publishers and consumers all take a hit from identity deprecation The critical takeaway is that marketers must deeply understand the impact and have proven solutions ready before deprecation occurs We estimate that the typical digital research budget needs to be tripled over the next 1824 months to prepare for this new reality Next week39s column reviews that rationale and identifies four critical initiatives for the smart marketer39s learning agendaClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Triple Your Digital Ad Research Budget Now, Despite Google's Delay

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Pattie Glod

Rex Briggs

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Triple Your Digital Ad Research Budget Now, Despite Google's Delay

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Pattie Glod

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