Cookie deprecation is approaching and over the past few years the industry has been considering how to fill the gap. Publishers and advertisers are testing alternatives that will allow an ad-supported internet to continue to thrive. For the second time, we surveyed publishers and advertisers around the globe for an upcoming report examining the evolution of cookie deprecation on both sides of the industry. Here are a few of the key findings ahead of the full release later this month.

Attention holds promise as an advertising currency

Attention stands to benefit from the looming deprecation shifts, according to both sides of the industry. These solutions do not depend on third-party cookies, instead measuring exposure and engagement in a privacy-friendly way. Attention ranked 3rd for advertisers and 4th for publishers on a post-cookie solution ranking.

Among advertisers, 96% stated that they will rely on attention in either most or some of their ad buys in 2023. Publishers agree: 94% described attention-based capabilities as either “moderately important” or “very important” in 2023. Those same publishers stated that their offering was either “very good” (29%) or “good” (48%).

Solution uncertainty challenges publisher revenue expectations

Despite the focus on experimentation, potential solutions may have a way to go before they gain trust in the marketplace. Three out of four professionals we heard from were still in some phase of the testing process. With only one year to go until Google’s latest deprecation deadline, there is clearly more problem-solving to be done.

One of the more telling year-over-year changes showed that this uncertainty is impacting how publishers are thinking about post-cookie revenue. Though publishers who thought their overall revenue would decrease were in the minority, the number of respondents who predicted an increase saw a steep drop. In 2022’s survey, 63.8% of respondents anticipated greater revenue, while only 48% thought the same this year.

Conclusion

With DV’s unique position as a partner for both publishers and advertisers, it’s one of our highest priorities to stay in tune with the trends and drivers of the digital advertising industry as a whole (as you’ll see from our ongoing research). With uncertainty and opportunity abound, few topics have been as prevalent to the entire community as the imminent deprecation of third-party cookies.

This is the moment to push for collaboration with advertisers while there is still time for both sides to adapt and compromise. Third-party metrics like attention are just one way that both sides can build trust and alignment by speaking a common language. The ad-supported ecosystem will be in a much better position to thrive in privacy-friendly ways as these solutions take hold and become more actionable by both sides.