As an industry, we’re finally waking up to the realization that privacy compliance touches all of us – advertiser, publisher and everyone in between. The use of data is central to digital advertising, but with a host of complex new privacy regulations being enforced globally, it’s a minefield out there and we all need to have our i’s dotted and our t’s crossed.
Trading data has long been the operating system for ad tech but it is an imperfect one. As things stand, the ability to reach and engage our audiences can be a frustrating experience for all parties involved. Anyone who has worked as a data owner, marketer or publisher would understand this problem and the challenges it entails. As a marketer, how do you gain a competitive advantage when you’re buying the same audiences as your competitor? As a data provider, how do you offer transparency and control when other players are using your audience data? As a publisher, how can you engage in audience activation in a privacy-safe manner?
With the demise of third-party cookies on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to build something new. Something built for the age of privacy.
We studied the issues for a year while testing the limitations of existing data activation methods – all while new privacy regulations were playing in the background. We found that the root of the problem are legacy workflows that don’t offer control and transparency for data providers.
To answer this our team built a new solution, Audience Encore. Here’s what we learned while building it:
Better audience activation starts with empowering the data provider
A prominent issue today is “data leakage” which occurs when data providers are required to broadly share segments outside of their databases, with little knowledge of how they are being used. Trust comes from security and security comes from boundaries. Audience Encore transacts on audience data without broadly sharing it to protect data providers.
Empowering data providers brings publishers to the table
For publishers, the most valuable asset is their relationship with their user base. Without security in knowing how to keep their first party data private, publishers have rightfully been cautious in entering the audience activation market. When a data transaction system is designed with privacy in mind for data providers, it opens the door for publishers to join in. Audience Encore allows publishers to activate first party audience data and offers transparency with real-time reporting on those segments for all data owners on the platform.
Bringing publishers and data providers to the same table benefits marketers
Media and audience data represent two sides of the same coin - you need quality ad inventory as the vehicle for any audience activation. Bringing publishers and data providers together creates efficiencies as well as new opportunities for publishers to step up as first party data providers. This offers even more opportunities for marketers to access unique audience data to reach their customers.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that it is simple for all players in the ad tech industry to monetise their data and content assets in the most efficient way, whilst guaranteeing user privacy. This approach gives all parties involved - media buyers, data owners and publishers - more control and visibility into the performance and use of key audience data. Marking another step in wrapping more privacy around the business of data in digital advertising.
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