In its latest webinar, Ad Measurement Trends: How Digitization and Privacy are Driving Innovation eMarketer analysts covered their main findings, alongside Dan Kurtter, GM of Data Measurement & Insights at Attain.

Below are the main takeaways from the webinar:  

Takeaways from the eMarketer analysts‍

Cookies are deprecating in about a year, and replacement solutions aren’t ready‍

The analysts agree that cookie deprecation is imminent and will take place in about a year (Q3 2024). And despite its somewhat slow approach to landfall, cookieless solutions aren’t anywhere near maturity to power an entire ecosystem.

1. UnifiedID 2.0 is not as prevalent as headlines suggest
2. Privacy Sandbox tests haven’t focused on measurement
3. First-party data isn’t enough on its own

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Both advertisers and publishers agree that their respective first-party data sets are the most promising path forward, but first-party data utility is limited by scale‍

Both sides of the industry are banking on first-party data being the solution, yet there will likely never be enough scale on both sides.

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Fragmentation and measurement are standing in the way of retail media’s continued growth

There are obvious downsides to operating within an ecosystem with hundreds of disparate platforms, creative specs, and measurement methodologies. In addition, incrementality, the holy grail of measuring sales outcomes, is proving challenging for retailers given the many brand touchpoints a consumer might encounter.

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Takeaways from Dan Kurtter, GM of Measurement & Insights at Attain

The future is here

It’s wisest to think of the cookieless future as already here. The key to success is using your own first-party data, if available, and working with partners with their own permissioned, first-party purchase data to build a full-funnel measurement strategy.

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First-party data partnerships are key to overcoming scale concerns

A way to solve the reach limitations of first-party data sets is to partner with other companies who also have first-party purchase data. This not only expands reach, it tells you more about your own customers as well as potential and competitive customers.

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Incrementality alone is not enough – it needs to be holistic and across all retailers

Even when retailers can figure out incrementality, they are only measuring within their own walls. They don’t see how one of their impressions could have driven a sale at a competitor, and that’s a crucial piece when thinking about how purchase decisions happen in the real world.