Third-party cookies get another year’s life as Google postpones the ban till 2024.
The third-party cookie ban has been buzzing like seasonal news. Initially, Google planned to phase out third-party cookies in 2021 after Apple and Firefox banned them by default. This step by companies created chaos in the beginning but soon opened the gates for contextual advertising.
“This site collects cookies”, you would have encountered one of these pop-up boxes where you allowed it without giving it much thought. This is where your data starts getting collected. For example, you were looking for a white cotton shirt on your laptop and a few mins later your Instagram is all about white shirts and related ads. Have you ever wondered why and how this happened?
Third-party cookies are set on advertising websites where they can collect users’ data and later use it to target them. In layman’s language, third-party cookies help advertisers in finding interested audiences for their products and services.
You might be wondering why Apple and Firefox banned them. Third-party cookies pose a serious threat to the privacy of users. If these cookies get into the wrong hands they may get misused and lead to higher internet fraud and cyber crimes.
The European Union was way ahead, as they sensed the threat and passed a cookie law. This law made sure that the user is informed about the tracking. Keeping user privacy in mind, Apple and Firefox banned these cookies in 2018.
But the question arises if the advertising industry was being benefited from these cookies then what will be their future?
Contextual Advertising: Gamechanger for Advertising Industry
Contextual ads are those ads that blend perfectly with the content displayed. For example, you see an ad for a laptop next to an article on the configuration of Apple MAC. An early example of contextual advertising would be an ad for a dress in a fashion magazine.
The contextual ads failed earlier because advertisers were keener about tracking user behavior and then targeting them with the ads. However, with the help of advancements in the adtech industry, contextual advertising has also evolved over the years.
With rapid changes, contextual advertising companies like Silverpush, are now able to place ads more efficiently. This form of advertising caters to the needs of an advertiser as well as the user. This is because these ads are shown to people who are actively looking for the specific category and would be interested in making an engagement with the brand. A study showed that there was a significant increase in the revenue of brands through contextual targeting.
Advertisers and publishers are both crucial parts of the industry. As we have discussed, how advertisers are being benefited, let’s now shift to the other side of the industry.
What’s in for Publishers in Contextual Advertising?
Advertisers and publishers go hand in hand without one another would not be useful. Advertisers have the ads through which they want to attract people to their products/services and a publisher has the inventory to display it.
When it comes to placing an ad, a publisher would know best where a specific ad will fulfill the need of the advertiser. But some people think that social media platforms might take over.
Social media platforms collect all kinds of content (positive, negative, neutral) but we know that every content isn’t suitable for advertising. For example, if you see an ad for baby food next to the alcohol content, it would be a threat to the brand’s reputation.
Brands are very keen to maintain their image, especially while advertising. Since social platforms are a mix of everything the possibility of hampering brand safety is very high. This is where publishers can take the leverage by ensuring brand safety. This can be done by keeping toxicity out and closely monitoring the content.
High-quality content is another leverage publishers have. Every brand wants top-notch quality which publishers can easily offer. They monitor the performance of each site so they have an edge to know where to place the ad so the right audience is targeted.
The purpose of advertising for brands is to gain the trust of their audience. With advanced advertising strategies, publishers can ensure that the trust they built over the years or while they build won’t be breached especially through contextual ads.
Since contextual ads are more advanced, publishers are no longer missing opportunities for advertising due to specific words. This form of advertising reads the text like a human being and understands in what manner particular words are being used.
Final Word
With contextual ads coming in the advertising opportunity has significantly increased which in turn fulfills the need of both advertisers and publishers. It has also increased the relevance of the ads which has raised user engagement.