On July 22, via a blog post, Google announced the abandoning of its plans to deprecate third-party cookies from Chrome. This announcement sent ripples through the entire industry, marking the latest development of the tech giant’s four-year effort to eliminate cookies from its browser. But while this decision may have left a number of advertisers and publishers with a little more room to breathe, the depreciation of cookies is still very much on the horizon. 

Anthony Chavez, VP of Privacy Sandbox, asserted on the blog that instead of deprecating cookies, the plan is to “introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.”

The Privacy Sandbox

This new experience centers around the Privacy Sandbox, Google's own initiative aimed at reducing the industry's reliance on cookies while enhancing user control and online privacy.

Despite Google announcing Privacy Sandbox as early as 2019, five years of delays and early tests have proved that the transition from cookies to Privacy Sandbox has been more challenging than initially anticipated.

Chavez affirms that Google is steadily improving the Privacy Sandbox APIs, stating, “Early testing from ad tech companies, including Google, has indicated that the Privacy Sandbox APIs have the potential to achieve these outcomes. And we expect that overall performance using Privacy Sandbox APIs will improve over time as industry adoption increases.”

The above-mentioned outcomes are from recent tests conducted by Google Ads between January and March of this year, where using Privacy Sandbox tools, Google achieved:

• 89% recovery of ad spend in Google Display Ads.
• 86% recovery of ad spend in Display & Video 360 (DV360).
• 97% recovery in conversions per dollar for Google Display Ads in performance campaigns focused solely on conversions.
• 95% recovery in conversions per dollar for DV360 in performance campaigns focused solely on conversions

These Privacy Sandbox test results have sparked some controversy. While Google reports positive outcomes, findings from other tests, such as Criteo's, give room to suggest otherwise. Criteo's test indicates that the transitioning to Privacy Sandbox could cause a 60% drop in publisher revenue, sharply contrasting Google's optimism.  

Such dissimilarity in Privacy Sandbox evaluation outcomes suggests a significant divide in perspectives within the industry. While all signs still point towards the deprecation of third-party cookies, the direction that the advertising sector will take remains to be determined. 

The Changing Landscape

Since the initial cookie discontinuation announcement four years ago, the industry has already begun shifting towards more privacy-centric strategies. Today, the advertising landscape is much less reliant on third-party cookies.

In fact, as the digital advertising industry continues to move away from cookies, a variety of privacy-focused solutions have gained traction, delivering promising results in a privacy-conscious way. Among these approaches are the use of First-Party data, Contextual advertising, and Universal IDs, all of which offer effective and more respectful alternatives to user tracking.

Hashed Emails

Since March of this year, Overwolf has adapted its strategy to align with the inevitable cookie apocalypse. We have collaborated with leading industry providers such as Liveramp, ID5, TheTradeDesk, and Yahoo to integrate support for Hashed Emails via our API.

Hashed Emails are a robust, private-centric alternative that protects user data and contributes to generating significantly higher CPMs. Advertisers spend more when a hashed email is present, allowing cross-site user tracking and better-targeted campaigns. Take a look at the graph below to see our CPM improvements with the implementation of hashed emails compared to no email.

At Overwolf, we are eager to always take the necessary steps to ensure only the highest-quality advertising, higher CPMs, and more inventory demand. Indeed, in this incredibly fast-paced world of advertising, adapting to such changes is crucial not only to mitigate the potential risk of revenue loss but also to provide the prospects for steady growth and increased engagement across our global network of creators.