Criteo's testing of Google's Privacy Sandbox raises concerns about publisher revenue
Criteo's market testing of Google's Privacy Sandbox raises concerns about its effectiveness due to potential publisher revenue decline and a competitive advantage for Google.
Criteo last month examined the potential impact of Google's Privacy Sandbox on publishers' revenue if third-party cookies are deprecated. Their findings suggest significant financial drawbacks for publishers, prompting questions about the effectiveness of the Privacy Sandbox as a solution.
Publisher revenue could decline by up to 78% if third-party cookies are replaced with the current version of the Privacy Sandbox.
Even with Protected Audience API enabled, publishers might see a 60% drop in revenue.
Google Ad Manager (GAM) could capture a larger share of the market due to its dominance in Privacy Sandbox integration, potentially harming competition. Market share increase from 23% to 83% observed in the test.
Latency in ad delivery increases significantly, impacting user experience and potentially reducing monetization opportunities.
Methodology Strengths
Criteo's testing covered a vast scale, encompassing over 80% of their client campaigns, 18,000 advertisers, and 1,200 publishers.
They employed a rigorous approach to mitigate potential biases, including those arising from unlabeled traffic and third-party cookie usage in Mode B.
Constant performance across populations was maintained to accurately assess the long-term impact.
Mitigating Biases
Criteo highlights the importance of considering factors like unlabeled traffic and third-party cookie presence in Mode B to avoid skewed results.
Scoping results solely on Google Ad Manager can be misleading as it doesn't reflect the broader market impact.
The Road Ahead
Criteo believes there's still room for improvement in the Privacy Sandbox. They emphasize collaboration between the industry and Google to address limitations and ensure a sustainable solution that protects user privacy while safeguarding a healthy publisher ecosystem.
This study underscores the complexities involved in creating a viable alternative to third-party cookies. Balancing user privacy with a functional advertising market requires careful consideration of all stakeholders' needs. Further research and development are crucial to ensure a smooth transition for the open web.
Criteo's testing indicates a significant negative impact on publisher revenue with the current Privacy Sandbox (up to 78% decline), which aligns with the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) concerns. Both Criteo's findings and the CMA's investigation raise doubts about whether the Sandbox meets Google's commitment to minimize publisher revenue loss (capped at 5%). This reinforces the need for Google to address limitations in the Privacy Sandbox before full implementation to ensure a healthy and competitive advertising ecosystem that prioritizes user privacy without crippling publishers.