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STUDY: Nearly Half of U.S. Publishers Say Revenue Loss from Cookie Deprecation Could Lead to Reduced Workforce

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Survey of 200 US marketers and publishers also finds desire to use multiple IDs

New York, NY – (November 4, 2021) – Lotame (www.lotame.com), the only flexible data solutions provider to future proof connectivity and drive performance across all screens, today announced findings from part two of its “Beyond the Cookie” report. 

Part one, “Beyond the Cookie: The Future of Advertising for Marketers and Publishers,” was released in February and examined how organizations are beginning to plan for the phase out of third-party cookies. For part two, “Beyond the Cookie: Identity Solution Adoption & Testing Among Marketers and Publishers,” Lotame surveyed 200 U.S. senior decision-makers in digital media and marketing to evaluate identity solution adoption amid the flurry of data privacy changes reshaping the open web. Respondents were polled in September 2021, after Google revealed another delay to deprecating third-party cookies to 2023. 

Key findings from the report include:

  • Cookie Deprecation Will Hurt Revenue and Reduce Workforce – 42% of marketers say the loss of cookies will decrease revenue, with nearly 60% (57%) expecting a drop of 10-25% and 31% a drop of 26-50%. Meanwhile, nearly half (48%) of publishers anticipate having to reduce their workforce due to revenue loss brought on by third-party cookie deprecation.
  • Embracing IDs for Different Reasons – While marketers say their primary reason for adopting new identity solutions is to support audience targeting (52%), for publishers, the central reason is data privacy (59%). 
  • Marketers & Publishers Want Multiple IDs – When asked what the optimal number of ID solutions was, 33% of marketers said three or that they were “open to using any number.” Similarly, 33% of publishers said they were “open to using any number,” followed by two (28%). 
  • Google Cookie Delay Welcomed & Expected – Across all respondents, when asked to react to Google’s decision to delay the end of third-party cookies, 47% said they were “glad because we needed more time to prepare,” while 42% said “I was expecting them to delay.” 40% also said “I’m suspicious of the reasoning behind it.” 
  • Industry Concerned by Apple’s Take on Privacy – In reaction to Apple’s Privacy Relay, 41% of all respondents said “I’m concerned for the impact on email hash identifiers,” while the same number said “I’m concerned for our ability to monetize our email channel.” Relatedly, email-based identity solutions (63%) were the most popular choice when asked what types of ID solutions marketers and publishers were planning to test in the next six months to one year. Contextual (49%) was in second place, followed by cohorts (30%) and probabilistic (29%).  

“A cookieless future is closer on the horizon and whether or not the industry ‘feels prepared,’ the end result is inevitable,” said Andy Monfried, Founder & CEO of Lotame. “Digital advertising is changing, and identity solutions will be part of that new future. Addressability and connectivity are at greatest threat in the post-cookie world. Testing identity solutions now can not only soften the blow of a cookieless landscape but future proof a business’s ability to connect with consumers in meaningful and respectful ways.”

In October 2020, Lotame launched Lotame Panorama ID, the only enriched, privacy-first global solution bringing identity to open web traffic. As the delivery mechanism for an extraordinary depth of rich, pseudonymized data, the average Panorama ID carries 200+ behavioral attributes.

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