Data + Privacy

Recent reporting from Adalytics and the Wall Street Journal exposed that Forbes, a publisher with more than a century’s worth of brand equity, was running a parallel made-for-advertising site in the shadows.  One of the most trusted brand names in business reporting was using tactics advertisers usually associate with bot farms or clickbait content. This […]

US state comprehensive privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have been garnering much attention over the past year. However, new requirements with respect to the processing of children’s data are occurring at the US state level and seemingly flying below the radar.  Participants in the ad tech ecosystem should take note. These […]

Inside the Nubai Ventures lawsuit against Outbrain over alleged bot traffic. Plus: The broadcaster-backed Joint Industry Committee and the Media Rating Council clarify their complementary roles.

Google Chrome’s third-party cookie deprecation plan is in effect, and the industry continues to await the fallout from the death of the cookie.  However, it’s worth recognizing that the third-party cookie actually stymied the development of digital advertising.  Sure, that little http text file was key to the evolution and dominance of programmatic advertising – […]

In our ever-changing industry, staying quick on your feet is paramount to overcoming obstacles. But even by typical standards, this past year was particularly tumultuous. One of the most significant concerns has been the official onset of cookie deprecation, a long-anticipated development that has sent publishers scrambling. Between the alphabet soup of alternative IDs, addressability […]

More granular video classifications are replacing outstream video, but the move may devalue some inventory. Plus: GPTs are coming for contextual.

Over the past few weeks, thousands of Google and Meta advertisers have seen refunds trickling back into their accounts. Why? Well, it’s hard to know for sure, because both companies have a habit of obfuscating the reasons behind campaign refunds. Meanwhile, campaign misappropriation issues seem to be cropping up more frequently on both platforms, and […]

Why the 4A’s is hosting secret meetings to redefine MFA from “made for advertising” to “made for arbitrage.” Plus, a new report from Adalytics reveals that MFA-blocking solutions aren’t as effective as tech vendors claim.

Converged funnel. Flattened funnel. Collapsed funnel. The non-funnel funnel. The funnel has been such a powerful visualization for the buying process for so long that, even a decade into radical shifts in consumer shopping habits, it’s hard to let go. It’s still useful in explaining and shaping marketing strategies and tactics. Consider retail media, which […]

Over the course of my 20-year career in digital advertising, I’ve mostly considered Google’s advertising business to be a threat to independent media.  You might expect that I would be very critical of Google Chrome’s impending deprecation of the third-party cookie, and that I would see the emerging Privacy Sandbox APIs as an attempt by […]