The digital media industry is experiencing a reversal of its usual direction. In general, advertisers and publishers consider what matters to them equally important. At present, however, sell-side difficulties in harnessing first-party data are creating challenges for buyers, especially since 2022 is the last opportunity to finalize post-cookie preparations.
Today, it is widely accepted that there is no single path forward. In the future, industry operations will likely be driven by a combination of first-party data, contextual media planning, and alternative IDs – with IDs already showing encouraging growth in the United Kingdom.
Owned data plays an important role in all these options, regardless of how large or small. Therefore, the fact that aggregating, organizing and utilizing this information remains a challenge for publishers as well as the entire ecosystem.
First-party data collection isn’t the biggest challenge publishers face. The reason is that many have recognized the need to build their own data stores as third-party cookies decrease. The development of strategies to increase audience data intake has become a major priority, resulting in an increased use of subscriptions, site registrations, and newsletters. At the same time, more mature, fast, and affordable customer data platforms have made information collection easier.
