DIAL: Digital Innovations Awesome List (June 2021)

At Centro, we know that keeping up with the trade pubs and latest trends can be tough and time-consuming. To make that easier, we’ve compiled all the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Enjoy our latest list below!

Google Clarifies Its Stance On Post-Cookie Advertising IDs [:02]

While much of the industry has been scrambling to find workarounds following Google’s initial announcements around increased consumer privacy (and the deprecation of third-party cookies), caution should be exercised, as Google expressed concern over some proposed identifiers that "do not meet the rising expectations that consumers have when it comes to privacy.”

6 Types Of Post-Cookie Data That Will Still Be Available After 2022 [:05]

Third-party cookies may be on the way out in Chrome, but that doesn’t mean the end of data-driven advertising. There are still many other types of audience data that marketers have at their disposal, including identity graphs and consented third-party data, household-level data, second-party data, contextual data, cohorts and, of course, first-party data, including login data.

[RELATED: Tune in to this month’s webinar on What’s Next After Third Party Cookies]

Only 4% of iOS Users in US are Opting In to Ad Tracking [:02]

According to Flurry Analytics, which has been tracking daily opt-in and opt-out rates following the launch of iOS 14.5, roughly 4% of users in the U.S. are allowing apps access to their Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) tag.

ATT is a new feature that requires developers to ask users before tracking their movement across other apps and the web. Touted by Apple as an important user privacy tool, critics say the requirement to obtain ad tracking permissions will dissuade users from participating and thus hurt businesses reliant on ad revenue.

A Lull in the Enforcement of Apple’s Privacy Safeguards Causes Confusion over Fingerprinting [:07]

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency isn’t perfectly clear on what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to fingerprinting. Or at least, it isn’t clear to some of the tech companies that focus on mobile measurement. One company’s fingerprinting is another’s probabilistic attribution. Is this selective interpretation of the guidelines or unclear guidance? Maybe a bit of both.

How Publishers are Rebuilding Identity to Control Their Own Destiny [:05]

The exit of third-party cookies and other (flawed) identifiers is a rallying cry for publishers to take control of their destiny. Cracking the identity code will take multiple tools. The fact is, there is no silver bullet for publisher monetization in the post-cookie world.

Can Apple Change Ads? [:13]

While Apple has made software changes that impact privacy and advertising, and have made public statements about its priority on privacy, could they change the way advertising works in the same way they changed the music industry, created an ecosystem for phone apps, and computing as a whole? Apple looks for businesses it can transform with simplicity and control, and take a cut, without owning anything itself, and where it can use that to leverage hardware sales–could that work for advertising?

NewFronts Highlight Power Of CTV [:04]

This year’s NewFronts cemented streaming as a main vehicle to reach TV audiences following a massive shift in viewing behavior fueled by the pandemic. CTV ad spend experienced 22% growth year-over-year in 2020 – its highest gain to date – while nearly three quarters (73%) of CTV buyers shifted budgets from broadcast and cable to CTV this year, according to IAB data. Advertisers, on average, spent $20 million on CTV in 2020, and more than a third (35%) expect to spend more this year.

Podcast Advertising To Surpass $1B This Year [:02]

US podcast advertising is poised to grow as much in the next two years as in the entire past decade, according to a podcast revenue study conducted by PwC and the IAB. Podcast advertising revenue rose to $842 million in 2020, from $708 million in 2019, helped by a particularly robust, 37% year-over-year gain in the fourth quarter.

How the Cannabis Industry Adapted in the Pandemic [:03]

It’s been a year of wins for the cannabis industry, from relaxed regulation and increased legalization in more states, to dispensaries being named essential services to growing positive sentiment towards a previously counter-culture industry. The last year has seen increases in ad spend to promote and differentiate cannabis companies to prospective consumers.

[RELATED: Check out last month’s cannabis webinar]

Augmented Reality Is Changing the Cosmetics Industry Forever [:05]

Amplified by the pandemic, a flurry of prominent cosmetics brands are trying to reproduce the in-store experience within apps that superimpose digital representations of cosmetic products, from brows to eyeliner to contouring cream, onto your face as viewed through your phone’s front facing camera. And then, of course, they try to sell that augmented reality vision to you in real life.

[RELATED: Check out April’s retail webinar]