As third-party cookies disappear and regulations tighten, publishers and advertisers are struggling to track audiences effectively and maintain strong campaign performance. So, how can you take back control of your audience data?
Why Is Your Audience Slipping Away?
Several factors erode addressability: adblockers, the lack of user consent, and the end of third-party cookies.
For years, third-party cookies have played a central role in online advertising, enabling marketers to target audiences, analyze their behavior, and measure campaign performance. However, the phased removal of third-party cookies across major browsers—Safari in 2017, Firefox in 2019, and Chrome in 2024—combined with stricter privacy regulations (like GDPR, Law 25, and nFADP) is fundamentally reshaping these established practices.
Exploring New Solutions to Rebuild Audience Data
One of the first solutions to emerge in response to the disappearance of third-party cookies is email hashing. This technique transforms collected email addresses (with user consent) into unique, anonymized identifiers. While effective for authenticated audiences, it is limited by the need for a significant database of verified email addresses.
Another method, server-side tracking, offers ways to bypass some adblocker restrictions and improve the measurement of advertising performance. However, this approach mainly benefits advertisers and is less effective for publishers relying on ad revenue.
Both solutions, while promising, fail to fully address the needs of publishers aiming to maintain wide-scale and effective addressability.
This is where Universal IDs come into play, offering an alternative approach for publishers. Universal IDs, like those provided by First-id, present several key benefits for publishers:
- Rebuilding consented audiences: Through cross-browser authentication, publishers can rediscover a full understanding of their audience while respecting user consent preferences.
- Activating audiences for targeted advertising: Universal IDs provide insights into visitor profiles (habits, preferences, demographic segments), helping optimize ad targeting.
- Measuring performance: They deliver reliable data for evaluating campaign attribution and effectiveness, all while complying with data protection regulations.
"The goal is to create a unique authentication key for consented site audiences, addressing media challenges like addressability, targeting, measurement, and data," explains Valentine Weydert (First-id)
Boosting Consent Rates with an Optimized CMP
In today’s world of stricter regulations and evolving technology, a well-configured consent management platform (CMP) is essential to maintaining high opt-in rates—and, by extension, audience addressability.
Take Sogemedia, a leading regional press group, as an example. By transitioning seamlessly to Axeptio’s CMP, they achieved a remarkable 27-point increase in opt-in rates, thanks to personalized support and a publisher-friendly interface.
Optimizing your CMP is a critical step for publishers who aim to:
- Rebuild a qualified, consented audience.
- Effectively activate relevant audience segments.
- Accurately measure advertising performance.
To find out more, read the full case study on the Axeptio and Sogemedia success story here.
