As a result, the building society has launched a “strategic partnership” with software company Red Marker, which aims to enhance consumer protection through clear and accurate communications.

Subscribe to Mobile Marketing Magazine

Click here to get the latest marketing news free in your inbox every Thursday

The partnership also hopes to proactively minimise risk in marketing and promotional assets and ensure strict adherence to key regulatory requirements.

The move follows two of the bank’s adverts being banned by Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for “misleading” customers about the closure of high street banks.

The advert, which featured Dominic West and Sunil Patel, stated “Unlike the big banks, we’re not closing our branches” as its closing line. However, according to the ASA, customers were made to believe the adverts in the context of high street bank closures, claiming that although Nationwide had closed fewer banks than others over a ten-year period, despite it still shutting 20% of its branches.

Nationwide Senior Manager Financial Promotions and Advertising Approvals, Susan Turvey, said: “We’re happy to be working with Red Marker, who will enable our teams to become more efficient and help ensure that our customers receive clear, fair and not misleading information through our marketing promotions. For an organisation which is so focussed on delivering the best possible customer service, this is really important to us.”

Red Marker, COO, Mark Wood added: “We’re delighted to partner with Nationwide. Our strategic partnership is a testament to our joint commitment to consumer protection.

“Helping ensure accurate communications while actively mitigating risk in marketing communications is crucial in providing an outstanding customer experience. We are excited to be involved in this pivotal step toward fortifying internal operations and maintaining the highest standards for customer communication at Nationwide.

The post Nationwide embraces AI for clearer messaging amid ad ban appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The billboard is currently being showcased outside the NEC in Birmingham where the dog show is taking place.

Subscribe to Mobile Marketing Magazine

Click here to get the latest marketing news free in your inbox every Thursday

The ad reads “We’re a Nation of Doggy Lovers” plastered on a green background, while featuring the sexual wellness brand logo.

The move follows research conducted by the online sex toy destination revealing that “Doggy Style” is the nation’s favourite sex position.

A Lovehoney spokesperson said: “The United Kingdom really is a nation of doggy lovers, according to our own survey, so what better time and place to reveal Britain’s favourite position than at Crufts, the world’s greatest dog show?

“At Lovehoney, we believe that everyone deserves sexual happiness and we are delighted that doggy has won “best in show.”

Meanwhile, it’s not the first time that Lovehoney has dipped its paws into the billboard space.

Last year the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned an “inappropriate” advert about Prince Harry’s new book, Spare, featuring a ball gag and a quip about “silence” being “golden”, following complaints.

The post Lovehoney unveils ‘We’re a Nation of Doggy Lovers’ billboard outside Crufts appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

UK regulator, The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has partnered with Instagram to launch a series of videos aimed at encouraging good practice.

Each video shares aspects of rules advertisers must follow, which include clearly disclosing ads, tackling misleading messaging or being upfront about the price of goods and services.

Subscribe to Mobile Marketing Magazine

Click here to get the latest marketing news free in your inbox every Thursday

The videos also feature content creators including @YourBoyMoyo, @FatsTimbo, @simplysayo, @ThatsWatson and @Shesnotfunny.

The partnership is part of the advertising regulator’s new five-year strategy, AI-assisted, Collective Ad Regulation, which aims to ensure social media influencers are being “honest and truthful”, and help inform people who follow content creators of the ad rules that are in place and the expectations they should have around being treated fairly and not being misled.

ASA Director of Communications and Marketing Donna Castle said: “These videos will help raise awareness of the ASA system and the rules that all UK ads must follow.

“We’re grateful to Meta and all the content creators for their help in bringing this initiative to life in such a creative and engaging way. It’s crucial that all advertisers, including those online, follow the rules that keep people safe and prevent them from being misled.”

Meta Director of Business Partners Nick Baughan added: “Meta is committed to ensuring the people advertising on our platforms do so responsibly. We have a long-standing partnership with the ASA and this new campaign will help not only the creators and advertisers on our platforms but will benefit the communities using them.’’

The post ASA collaborates with Instagram influencers to promote best practices appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Upson, who will also join the leadership team at Adnami, will guide the UK business and accelerate growth, whilst overseeing the opening of an office in Amsterdam to oversee the Benelux region.

This strategic move is designed to support a growing number of clients and agencies, and comes on the back of already significant expansion in other European markets.

Previously director of agency development EMEA at Taboola; agency development lead at Facebook, now Meta; and managing director at Teads, he has also worked on the agency side, including as COO at MediaCom South Africa. Well versed in accelerating growth and the journey from start up to scale up, Upson has an outstanding track record in leadership roles, seeing companies through to acquisition or IPO, and has also worked with Adnami CEO, Simon Kvist Gaulshøj, at GoViral, before its sale to AOL.

Upson said: “I was compelled by both Adnami’s leadership and their innovative tech platform. It’s exciting to be back at a fast-growing company that plays a valuable role in the programmatic value chain, especially at a time when it is gaining interest and traction from a number of brands, agencies, and publishers.

“There has been a rebirth of creativity within high impact advertising, across channels such as display, mobile, and video – and we’re leading the charge on that. Key for us is how we serve clients to help drive efficiency, innovation, and growth. This is especially critical in the current climate where marketers are under increased pressure to deliver value with their ad dollars. Our aim is to maximise media efficiency and, to that end, we believe that attention as a metric should be at the forefront.”

Adnami has already developed a number of successful partnerships with both the major agencies and publishers, thanks to its groundbreaking formats which deliver attention, engagement, and impact; ultimately focused on the successful collision of creativity, data, and formats.

CEO, Simon Kvist Gaulshøj added: “James is the ultimate media professional and a true authority on the digital landscape. His attention to detail is second to none and, as an exceptional communicator, he takes great care of his clients, building long-lasting relationships with a shared passion for high standards.

“Our growing team is impactful, creative, curious, and above all customer-focused and now, in James’s safe hands, we look forward to driving continued growth, and heavily expand in European markets as we continue on our journey to revolutionise media technology.”

Adnami will be embarking on a significant recruitment drive over the coming months. It specialises in programmatic, high-impact advertising solutions and works with a growing portfolio of publishers, agencies, and advertisers. With offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and London, Adnami is set to expand its programmatic tech solutions for high impact advertising and works with a diverse range of clients, such as Heineken, BMW, American Express, Disney, Samsung, and Amazon.

The post Adnami appoints James Upson as Managing Director UK & the Netherlands as it doubles down on growth appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is taking action against six influencers for consistently failing to disclose ads on their Instagram accounts, despite repeated warnings and help and guidance on sticking to the rules.

In June 2021, the ASA set up a webpage that named influencers who, despite warnings, either repeatedly failed to disclose when their social media posts were, in fact, ads or failed to provide assurances that they would do so in future. This followed a proactive monitoring sweep by the ASA that discovered inconsistent ad disclosure by influencers on Instagram through Stories, posts and Reels, with the disclosure rules being followed (when posts were ads) only 35 per cent of the time. The influencers on the webpage are subject to enhanced monitoring and remain on there for a minimum of three months.

Francesca Allen, Jess Gale, Eve Gale, Belle Hassan, Jodie Marsh and Anna Vakili have all previously been named as not flagging ads in their posts, Stories or Reels. Since going on the webpage, they have failed to abide by the advertising rules and improve disclosure. The ASA is now taking out ads against these influencers on Instagram, alerting consumers to their failure to follow the rules.

The ASA’s ads read:

“[Name] has been sanctioned by the UK’s ad regulator for not declaring ads on this platform. Be aware that products and services recommended or featured by this influencer may have been paid for by those brands. Our non-compliant social media influencer page at asa.org.uk is regularly updated to inform consumers of those who break these rules.”

Amber Rose Gill will also be added to the ASA’s webpage this week for ongoing non-disclosure. The ASA said it will continue to monitor her content and, if she fails to follow the rules in future, she could also be subject to further sanctions.

The ads the ASA are taking out are an escalation of sanctions, and it said it is considering further sanctions if needed. This includes working with social media platforms to have the content of non-compliant influencers removed, or referring influencers to statutory bodies such as Trading Standards for consideration of statutory action, including possible fines.

“For the minority of influencers that repeatedly fail to disclose their paid-for posts, it’s important their social media followers are told,” said Shahriar Coupal, Director of Advertising Policy & Practice at the ASA. “In a new front of enforcement activity, we’re using targeted ads to highlight the breaches of six social media personalities to the very same audience they’re seeking to influence. When we see the necessary changes to their disclosure practices, we’ll call off the ads. But, where non-compliance persists, we’ll look to more direct forms of enforcement.”

The post ASA takes out Instagram ads to warn users of non-disclosure of paid ads by six influencers appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

More than three quarters of influencer adverts on Instagram have the disclosure hidden somewhere in the post, whether that be in the middle, at the end or in a comment, in breach of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) guidance. Thats the key finding of a stuudy carried out by the affiliate network Awin, as part of a wider look into disclosure in affiliate marketing, ahead of the launch of its adMission tool.

For the study, the top 100 posts for each disclosure hashtag were analysed to see whether the hashtag was visible in the original post, or needed expanding to be seen.

The hashtags used for analysis were #ad, which had the highest number of posts at 12.8m; #advertisement (1.8m); #sponsored (3.3m); #gifted (1.8m); and #affiliate (744,000).

According to the ASA, influencer marketing labels “must be prominent enough that consumers will easily notice it”, and that “burying a label in list of hashtags … or placing it ‘under the fold’ where consumers would need to click ‘see more’ … won’t be sufficient.”

Taking all hashtags into account, it was found that 76 per cent of the analysed posts hid the disclosure from view; i.e. their post was not in line with the ASA guidance noted above.

Influencers were most likely to place the disclosure in the middle of the post, with 59 per cent of posts reflecting this pattern, while 24 per cent were found at the end. A further 5 per cent were located at the beginning of the post, and as many as 12 per cent were hidden in the comments section.

The term that was most likely to be hidden in the post was #affiliate, with 93 per cent of uploads having it out of sight. In comparison, influencers were the most open about #gifted posts, with just 60 per cent of posts hiding the phrase.

‘Advertisement’ was the most likely hashtag to be hidden in the comments section of the post, with 20 per cent of relevant posts doing so. Comparatively, #ad was most likely to be found at the beginning of the post, with 15 per cent found here.

The team also looked at how many of the Instagram influencer adverts stated a paid collaboration or partnership with a brand above the uploaded picture. Just 13 per cent of the analysed posts included this feature, with those including #ad (24 per cent) and #sponsored (23 per cent) the most likely to do so.

“Disclosure is a really important part of being an influencer, not just because of the legal ramifications but also to have complete transparency with your followers,” said Kevin Edwards, Global Strategy Director at Awin. “It was surprising to find that so many influencers were ‘hiding’ the disclosure of their advertisements from followers, and something we hope to combat this year.”

The post Three quarters of Instagram influencers hide their ad disclosure in their posts – report appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

According to the 2021 DataReportal Global Overview report, more than half the world now uses social media. Those with a large and dedicated following – be it beauty vloggers, fitness instructors, gamers, or just the downright famous – have become what we have termed influencers.

Influencers have the power to create trends and guide people with their decision-making. In early 2000, marketers started catching on to this, approaching influential bloggers and asking them to promote certain products in return for free items, and later for money. Today, influencer marketing is a booming business.

From $1.7bn (£1.23bn) in 2016, influencer marketing is estimated to have grown to have a market size of $9.7bn in 2020. Thats expected to reach $13.8bn by the end of 2021, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.

The different types of influencer
Influencers can be broadly split into four categories – mega-influencers, macro-influencers, micro-influencers and nano-influencers. While it seems that the distinction between these four categories is merely the size of their following, the differences are far more refined. Segmentation like this assures that marketing campaigns don’t take a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and offers them a higher chance of success.

Mega-influencers tend to have upwards of 1m followers and are usually A-list or B-list celebrities. Kim Kardashian is a good example of one of the original mega-influencers. Now with a following of nearly 240m, it is rumoured that the star is paid a whopping $1m per Instagram post.

While mega-influencers might be able to promote a product or service to the largest audience, their followers are also the broadest in diversity. Their relationship with the individual members of their followership also tend to be more distant. This makes mega-influencers more suitable for top-of-the-funnel marketing campaigns that promote products that appeal to the masses.

For brands looking to target a specific type of customer whilst also reaching a large audience, macro-influencers may be a more appealing option. A macro-influencers follower numbers fall somewhere between 100,000 to 1 million.

Unlike mega-influencers, most macro-influencers have gained fame through the internet itself. Macro influencers are often approached first-hand by a brand – a business will ask them to feature their product or service on their social media profiles, with a contextual caption mentioning the brand.

However, their fees can still be extremely high, usually ranging from $5,000 – $10,000 per post.

Micro-influencers focus on a specific niche or area and are generally regarded as industry experts or topic specialists. Their followers usually range from 1,000 – 100,000. As opposed to mega or macro-influencers, micro-influencers tend to have a stronger relationship with their followers, due to their perception as an opinion leader of a subject matter, and therefore their sponsored posts can seem more authentic.

For example, if a sporting micro-influencer posts a photo singing the praises of a new protein powder, followers are more likely to believe them and take note of the product. Micro-influencers are also a lot cheaper, usually charging between $100 – £500 per post.

Nano-influencers are a relatively new breed of influencer. They tend to have a smaller number of followers in comparison to their counterparts, usually less than 1,000 followers. Instead of having celebrity status, nano-influencers are people who have influence in their community – for example a local MP or community leader.

The idea behind nano-influencers is to get normal, everyday people to promote a product to their friends and acquaintances. Nano-influencers are much more cost-effective than their higher-ups, so brands with limited resources may want to start at this level of influencer marketing. Some nano-influencers don’t even charge brands, as they are building their following and partnerships with brands, although a usual fee will be between £10-£100.

There is some discrepancy about the difference between influencers and creators, as the terms are often used interchangeably for anyone who produces sponsored content online.

Mary Keane-Dawson is Group CEO of Takumi, a global influencer marketing platform. She believes there is an “important distinction” between traditional influencers and content creators.

“The social media creators who we work with tend to act as their own creative director and collaborate with brands that match their own unique online identity – rather than just plugging products without any context,” says Keane-Dawson. “These are the people brands and marketers want to work with, and we call them creators, not influencers. This terminology may seem like a minor shift, but it’s an important creative one.

“Consumers follow creators for a reason and they want to see their support translate into quality content that matches the creator’s identity. If they don’t find this, then they won’t hesitate to unfollow and search for a different creator who shows more care for the content they produce and only engages in brand partnerships which match with the identity of their account.”

Takumi has more than five years of industry experience including partnerships with leading fashion and beauty brands across the globe, such as Clarins and L’Oreal. It has carried out more than 3,000 campaigns to date, working with thousands of curated content creators.

“The amount of budget dedicated to influencer marketing continued to grow last year and it appears many brands who tried the medium last year will dedicate more spend to it in the future,” says Keane-Dawson. “Our whitepaper found that 58 per cent of marketers are now interested in working with influencers on YouTube in the next 12-months, along with 55 per cent on Instagram, 35 per cent on TikTok, and 20 per cent on Twitch.”

TRIBE is an influencer marketplace that works slightly differently. Brands simply set a brief live on the TRIBE app and wait for submissions to come in from influencers and creators, who either own the product or have gone and bought it. Creators set a price for their content and if the brand likes it, they can buy it.

“We pride ourselves on putting so much opportunity into the app every week, that creators will never spend their money on products they wouldn’t ordinarily consume,” says Global Head of Sales at TRIBE, Lisa Targett. “We’ve always said that if you’re not willing to spend your own money, you have no right to recommend anyone else does. This goes a long way for authenticity and engagement.”

Both micro and macro-influencers connect with brands on TRIBE, with those with upwards of 100,000 followers able to earn upwards of £350. Video and motion posts can be worth double that.

“If you look at engagement rates, they diminish the larger your audience gets” says Targett “And it makes sense. With a smaller audience, I can reply and build a one-to-one relationship with my followers… but once I have 80m, you are a broadcaster with a one-to-many relationship. When that happens, there’s a shift in trust and responsiveness – the two components that make partnering with micro-influencers such an amazing opportunity for brands. Its real engagement.

“So often I’ve seen our creators partner with brands, and then follow through with questions and comments from their audience as if they were an extension of that brand’s customer support team – helping creators select shades of make-up, or directing them to stores where stock levels were sufficient. The creators have a vested interest in nurturing their community, and your brand becomes the enabler of that.”

Sponsored posts 
When a brand rewards an influencer with a payment, free gift, or other perks, any resulting posts become subject to consumer protection law.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s advertising regulator. The ASA makes sure ads across UK media stick to the advertising rules (the Ad Codes), which applies to influencer’s sponsored posts.

Under the UK advertising code, promotional posts must clearly indicate that they are paid-for endorsements, typically using a hashtag such as #ad or #spon, short for advertising or sponsored.

Social media stars such as Jodie Marsh and Chloe Khan have come under fire by ASA for repeatedly flouting the advertising rules, and face the removal of their posts and financial penalties.

Davien Garcia is a TikTok influencer with nearly 645,000 followers. He works with many different brands including Nascar and Grammarly and is paid a flat fee for each sponsored post, regardless of how many likes or shares the post gets.

“My sponsored post usually do OK,” says Garcia “Its not my regular content so sometimes they will do awesome and sometimes not. Its a hit or miss.”

Rather than setting out to become an influencer, Garcia started a YouTube channel last year, where he was happy to have a small group of people “to entertain”.

“I would post weekly videos and average about 50-100 views,” he says. “When the pandemic started, I feel like it helped me to be more creative as we were in lockdown and couldn’t go anywhere. I started posting on TikTok and slowly saw my videos gaining lots of views, which motivated me to take it seriously. Thats why I am where I am today.”

Sarah Francati was also inspired to join TikTok in the 2020 lockdown and has already accumulated a whopping 2m followers. She regularly posts videos with her younger sister, Emily who she insists is “the star”.

“To be completely honest I have no idea how my audience grew so fast,” says Francati. “I just kept posting funny and silly videos and all I wanted was to make people laugh and smile. There is so much content out there that is negative and hurtful and all we wanted was to bring some positivity. However, our ‘audience’ is far from just that. They are family. They are our biggest support.

“As far as sponsored posts go; we dont want them to scream ‘ad’ in front of your face. We only work with brands that match our energy and views. So, anything we are promoting we proudly use as well.”

Her tips for aspiring influencers are to find a niche or something you are passionate about and then consistently post about it every day.

“This is such a beautiful and amazing opportunity to make friends with people around the world” says Francati. “I can’t stress enough how important our TikTok family is. It has been the biggest blessing in our lives.”

Subject specialists 
Since eSports became a professional discipline in 1997, gaming influencers have sharply risen in popularity, amassing millions of views on their YouTube channels. Some of these have become real marketing assets for video game developers and distributors, as they increasingly turn to influencer’s services.

James Day is Director of Community at Dovetail Games, a platform that creates ‘digital hobbies’ enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

“I’m a big fan of using subject-matter specialists, who have small, but highly-engaged audiences. Our games appeal to knowledgeable hobbyists and enthusiasts, so choosing a variety of content creators isn’t perhaps a wise investment. Using more focused creators requires a bit more upkeep and management, but it’s worth it to provide our current (and potential!) players content which will appeal to them as experts,” says Day.

He continues: “You’re also spreading your risk by using a budget on multiple smaller creators, rather than one large one – meaning that if one activation doesn’t pay off, it’s not the end of the world. It also provides a feeling of hype with several activations within a short time-frame, if you’re coinciding them with, for example, a new product launch.”

YouTube has proved essential for Dovetail games, with many high-quality gaming simulator creators using the platform, although the company is looking towards what TikTok has to offer.

“We’re working on more creative activations, which fuse the worlds of simulation and real-life” says Day. “Live streaming can be really effective for some games brands to provide an instant and immediate hit, but can often be expensive for what you get. We’ve consciously gone down the VOD route to ensure the content has permanence and a long tail, much like our games do.”

The future of influencer marketing 
With people’s social feeds becoming increasingly full of sponsored content, are people growing tired of it? 

The COVID-19 pandemic saw several influencers come under fire from the general public and the media for advertising their lavish lifestyle online whilst the majority of people remained stuck indoors. 

For example, fitness blogger Sheridan Mordew received heavy criticism after appearing on national television to defend her trip to Dubai, claiming it to be essential work. 

There has certainly been a call for more authenticity and diversity when it comes to influencer marketing. One-off #AD posts are being replaced with more creator-driven video content such as Q+As and vlogs, as brands look to create more ongoing partnerships with influencers. 

Alex Springer is Regional Vice President EMEA at Impact, a partnership cloud platform. He believes that 2021 will see the rise of a new generation of content creators, termed genuinfluencers. 

“In response to influencer fatigue and a general oversaturation of the market, brands are looking to genuinfluencers to create less glossy and more authentic content that really resonates with consumers,” says Springer. “Genuinfluencers are defined as being wholly focused on making a positive impact, with their priority being their social activism and their moral and ethical beliefs, and brand collaborations playing a secondary role to their overall goals. This means that they will always fully vet a brand, including their history, partners, and practices, before working with them, and won’t collaborate with anyone who doesn’t align with their cause.

“Working with genuinfluencers allows brands to show their support of social issues through a trusted external voice, making their views seem authentic and reassuring their audience that their activism is not simply a marketing ploy to sell more services or products.”

The post Influencer 101 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Jonathan DSouza-Rauto, Biddable Product Lead, Infectious Media
“There are a number of reasons why Google’s decision to delay the process of removing third-party cookies won’t surprise many in the digital media industry. It’s probably fair to say work on the alternative – Google’s Privacy Sandbox – hasnt moved as fast as expected and a lot of questions remain about certain aspects of it. In Europe, Privacy Sandbox with FLoC (Federated learning of Cohorts) in particular had challenges with GDPR, so there is no way Google would release a product that only works in certain markets. If they’d kept to their previous timeline to remove third-party cookies they would have needed to start acting on their promises to disconnect their Ads products from Chrome, which has slowly started. Google is also under acute regulatory and legal scrutiny right now. So in this context it probably makes sense to delay.

“My fear is that if the death of the cookie happens in slow motion, the sense of urgency amongst advertisers to rewrite the book on how they reach digital audiences might wane. We hope this news doesnt give agencies and advertisers the justification to keep old and bad habits.”

Joanna Catalano, Chief Growth Officer, Piano
“While the natural inclination for publishers and brands might be to breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘Oh good, now I don’t have to worry about this for a while,’ nothing could be further from the truth. The fundamental consumer and regulatory push toward more privacy and less tracking hasn’t changed a bit. Users want more control over their data and how it’s used, and regulators are committed to enforcing and expanding their protections.

“Publishers and brands can now use the delay to develop well-grounded strategies built on engaged, loyal users who are willing to share their identity and appropriate personal information. Identifying technology and strategic partners who understand and can help execute a multi-faceted strategy that works across anonymous and known users, direct and programmatic advertising will have immediate value. Brands should take this pause as an opportunity to develop less dependence on Google and its tight hold on search and digital advertising, which again, for publishers and brands means building direct user relationships, and diverse technology solutions for advertising and marketing.”

Fred Whitton, Digital Partner, Total Media
“Google’s delay to cookie deprecation is mixed news for marketers and the industry. On the one hand it gives a reprieve to cookie-confused marketers and data solutions providers (adtech stock has already jumped), on the other it delays meaningful re-architecture of the open web to a more privacy-centred model, with the challenges to the FLoC approach in particular and an end to testing it’s current form in July. The link to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigations is notable, as is the need to ensure a level playing field in data control and ad supply. Overall this is another delay to the next chapter for digital media and it shouldn’t change brands need to continue to invest in building deeper relationships with their consumers.”

Tim Sleath, VP of Product Management, VDX.tv
“Given the state of readiness of the Privacy Sandbox initiatives, the regulatory and commercial doubts over FLoC and the position of the vast majority of publishers across the internet for such a meaningful change, there was already an expectation that the switchover date would need to be delayed until late 2022. It is a shame Google hadn’t worked through the bulk of the W3C process first to have an alternative before pulling the plug, but there are many reasons for that. Much of the advertising ecosystem is already adhering to the state of third-party cookieless, so it’s not a case of celebration or relaxation. It’s more a matter of continuing to use available cookie data signals to further allow marketers to hone other identity solutions, including householding – and if were offered a further 18 months of runaway to do so, we wont say no.”

Richard Jalichandra, Global General Manager, Spiceworks Ziff Davis
“Of course Google was always going to delay their plan to remove cookies – they had to. There is no surprise here. The greater question was always ‘when would this be announced and how long would the delay be?’ Not delaying this would have exploded the antitrust conversation we are seeing around Google right now. And, when you look at the tens of thousands of publishers and eCommerce companies that would have been greatly impacted by this, the entire ecosystem would have unravelled if there wasn’t adequate time to make plans.”

Konrad Feldman, CEO and Co-founder. Quantcast
“Any CEOs or brand leaders breathing a sigh of relief at this news and getting ready to reassign people and resources to other projects should reconsider. Google may have called extra time on the third-party cookie, but brands, agencies, publishers, and technology companies should remain focused on finding a long-term alternative. This will avoid swapping a mad-dash in the second half of 2021 for a mad-dash in the first half of 2023. There are also already many parts of the open internet, including Safari and Firefox, that require alternatives to third-party cookies today. Post-cookie solutions have value now, regardless of the time extension. Quantcast remains focused on developing an innovative and interoperable alternative to third-party cookies based on sound industry standards.”  

Todd Parsons, Chief Product Officer, Criteo
“Today’s announcement is welcome news for the people who rely on a vibrant and healthy open internet. We appreciate Google’s decision to create more time for the industry to prepare, but the extended deadline does not in any way change or impact Criteo’s strategy. We continue to build products that will enable our customers to reach and engage their audiences without third-party identifiers. This includes investment in our first-party media network, cohort-based targeting, initiatives in Google’s Privacy Sandbox, and contextual advertising, all of which allow marketers to effectively engage with their customers in a privacy-safe and consented manner.”    

Kasper Skou, CEO and Co-founder, Semasio 
“While this is good news for the industry as a whole, it should not deter us from moving beyond the third-party cookie as the main identifier for internet users. It is not a good vehicle for communicating with consumers, explaining the quid pro quo of data for content, facilitating that equitable exchange through collecting, storing and communicating informed consent through the value chain, and doing all of that with the user – not the device she is using right now – at the centre.

The elephant in the room is that 40 per cent of internet users are not identifiable via cookies today. We need to continue the great work which has already gone into the future of data-driven advertising, and we need to do it on a basis that makes the consumer an equal and informed partner in the ecosystem.”

Alexander Knudsen, VP, Solutions Engineering, Amobee
“Googles decision to delay the depreciation of third-party cookies is a responsible one. Its excellent news for both publishers and advertisers and this added runway will create a better environment to partner on scalable solutions that benefit all parties.”

Anne Hunter, VP of Product Marketing, DISQO
“Google may be giving marketers more time, but consumers arent waiting – they want transparency and value in use of their data now. Leaving cookies in the oven longer will only burn them further. Cookies remain an imperfect measurement tool, and marketers should seek zero-party data sources to get a fully-permissioned and complete view of their consumers journeys. Ultimately, over-reliance on cookies risks misalignment between a brands purpose and their consumers values.”

Raquel Rosenthal, CEO, Diligant
“While the digital advertising industry at large will sleep well tonight, I don’t expect advertisers will be standing by for long. The delay is just that, a delay – in large part to combat recent scrutiny over FLoC and to ensure industry stakeholders are well-prepared for the demise of cookies. In the next two years, advertisers will undoubtedly continue to get their fill of third-party cookies but we’ll also (finally) start to see momentum around testing and learning for cookieless alternatives to identity and measurement. Ultimately, we’re hoping that the culmination of this delay and recent iOS changes are new sets of advertising solutions and regulations that are beneficial to both industry players and consumers.”

Dmitri Lisitski, Co-Founder and CEO, Influ2
“Google has been trying to hack cookies by introducing an alternative, an alternative that theyre saying is less personal and more behavioural. However, the alternative that they introduced isnt really any different than cookies, and the loss of cookies will negatively impact them as well, since their primary source of revenue comes from advertising. 

“There needs to be an alternative, or new solution, that is truly different from cookies, but for now, cookies is the best option – even if it isnt ideal. Because a non-targeted approach is worse, and it will worsen the quality of the advertising experience for both advertisers and consumers. So, ultimately, it is premature to do away with cookies, and the current decision is of benefit to all (but especially advertising platforms – even giants like Facebook). And, this will allow advertisers to survive a little while longer.”

Bruce Biegel, Senior Managing Partner, Winterberry Group
“We are thinking that this is a suspension to give the market (and Google) time to adjust. It will not solve the Apple challenges, and the news is of benefit to the existing ad tech data, identity and DSP ecosystem – but also, the market has to contend with new regulatory initiatives at the state level which will continue to push near term market transformation. There’s more to come on this.”

The post Google delays phase-out of third-party cookies – industry response appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Google’s plans to phase out cookies on Chrome form part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative, which it says aims to create web technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers the tools to build thriving digital businesses to keep the web open and accessible to everyone.

To make this happen, Google said it believes the web community needs to come together to develop a set of open standards to enhance privacy on the web. But in a blog post published today Chrome Privacy Engineering Director, Vinny Goel, said that in order to do this “we need to move at a responsible pace” in order to “allow sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions, continued engagement with regulators, and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services. This is important to avoid jeopardizing the business models of many web publishers which support freely available content.

Goel added that Google’s goal for Chrome is to have the key technologies deployed by late 2022 for the developer community to start adopting them. Then, subject to the company’s  engagement with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and in line with the commitments it has offered, Chrome could then phase out third-party cookies over a three month period, starting in mid-2023 and ending in late 2023. 

Google plans to announce the start of stage 1 in late 2022, once testing is complete and APIs are launched in Chrome. During stage 1, publishers and the advertising industry will have time to migrate their services. Google said it expects this process to take nine months, during which it will monitor adoption and feedback before moving to stage 2.

In stage 2, starting mid-2023, Chrome will phase out support for third-party cookies over a three month period finishing in “late 2023”.

While Google’s plans to phase out third party cookies in Chrome have not been well received by the ad tech industry, its decision to delay the move probably has more to do with appeasing the regulators. Earlier this month, the CMA revealed that Google has agreed to let the regulator have a say in Google’s plans, over concerns that the move could negatively impact businesses that use personalised advertising.

The post Google delays phase-out of third-party cookie support in Chrome until the end of 2023 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The Marketers for an Open Web (MOW) has made submissions to the CMA’s investigation into Apple. In the submissions, Apple has been accused of limiting competition between apps available on the open web and those on its App Store, while also limiting competition between app stores.

The MOW goes further by claiming that Apple increases revenues and profits by locking in customers and suppliers to its App Store, accusing the company’s $2bn Search Ads business and Workbench products of collecting people’s browsing history for sale of its own ads and then restricting rivals’ ability to compete, particularly highlighting Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Framework.

The alliance of marketers also accuses Apple of not holding itself to the same standards as it holds third-party app developers, due to Apple not providing its users with notice about collecting their personal data when it monetizes its own apps with advertising.

“Apple’s Practices have gone on for far too long,” said Lawyer Tim Cowen, of Preiskel &Co, acting for MOW. “The EU Commission has been looking at them since Spotify filed its complaint, in March 2019 which was followed by a complaint in France of last year. Now the UK is looking into the issue. Who will achieve a result the fastest is now the key question. All these investigations fail to address the issues and, in the meantime, ‘justice delayed is justice denied’.”

The CMA launched its investigation into Apple earlier this month to consider whether Apple’s terms and conditions are ‘unfair’ to app developers, following complaints from developers about the App Store.

The post Marketers file Apple App Store complaint with CMA appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.