How ad transparency and privacy are the industry’s new table stakes

Advertising is about to be transformed again and it’s all about transparency. With Google officially beginning the deprecation of third-party cookies in early 2024, the business of online advertising is about to change big time. Simply put, it will make ad targeting, retargeting and attribution substantially more complex. But it also will allow brands and agencies to innovate on how they achieve greater ad transparency. Now more than ever, transparency in advertising is essential because it engenders trust with consumers and clients and ensures that ad tech and martech providers are accountable for their work and the services they provide. But transparency has been increasingly hard to achieve. So how did we get here? Hiding behind a wall The last two decades have completely upended the advertising industry. The consolidation of the buy-side and the sell-side began in the late 2000s, bringing both under one roof and removing transparency. Then Facebook’s widespread adoption globally—now to the tune of over 3 billion users—and its platform collecting massive amounts of user data became a goldmine for advertisers. But it also became something users and advertisers had to trust without insights into its data collection, measurement and management processes. Fast-forward to social media and ad platforms using walled gardens to tightly control data access. All of this puts brands, advertisers, agencies and clients at the mercy of the platforms and what data they would (or wouldn’t) provide. This data transparency struggle is also now impacting TV. What transparency means to agencies and their clients For ad agencies, strong relationships with their clients are paramount. Clients are increasingly demanding greater transparency along with improved campaign measurement and optimization as economic uncertainty continues, making every dollar count. At the same time, their need to adapt to rapidly changing consumer behavior adds to the complexity. But many agencies can’t provide all the KPIs or dive deeper into the campaign metrics provided by the ad platform, much less validate the metrics themselves. Why? Not all ad platforms currently provide the raw logs needed to verify the numbers. This puts agencies and their clients in the tough spot of having to simply trust the data or go without key ad-performance metrics that would help them optimize their campaigns. Data clean rooms enable transparency Today, data clean rooms (DCRs) are powering greater transparency across the advertising ecosystem. DCRs allow ad tech providers, agencies, brands and partners to securely collaborate on and analyze data without exposing the underlying data itself, enabling companies to comply with evolving privacy requirements. They also enable companies to design transparency rules. The many benefits of this technology are increasing its adoption with brand advertisers, ad agencies and ad tech companies. But not all data is brought into data clean rooms. Although the technology has been in the market for over five years, only some brands, agencies and ad tech companies use it. We will likely see greater adoption as companies continue working to achieve their transparency, measurement, analysis and data privacy goals. Effective optimization requires increased data sharing, collaboration and transparency across business units and with agencies and partners for faster analysis, which drives better business decision-making and outcomes. Modern data cloud platforms make this possible. Challenges to transparency today Data continues to get larger. It’s estimated that internet and mobile device users generate 146,880 megabytes every day, creating 118 zetabytes of data in 2023 alone. That number is projected to increase by over 25% in 2024. All of this data is too big for a simple data share in Excel. Creating a culture of widespread data transparency requires a modern data cloud platform that can power data collaboration across the organization’s ecosystem at the size, scale and velocity of today’s data. There’s also a need for analytics, data science and IT teams to be closer to the business. Enabling analytics and data science teams to help drive better business decision-making and outcomes means they need access to data—and lots of it. Organizations that can democratize data and share it widely have a strategic advantage. Consumers value transparency Our industry largely depends on the willingness of consumers to share their personal data. Each time that trust is violated or when consumers are unsure how their data is used, it harms the entire ecosystem. Companies are more likely to protect consumer data when it’s unsiloed and in a secure and scalable data cloud platform, making it critical for a successful AI strategy. According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer report, consumers are also feeling more vulnerable because of the current state of the world. When consumers feel vulnerable, the need for brands to improve trust grows more urgent. Edelman’s report reveals that trust is now one of the top three considerations when consumers purchase from a brand, after “good value for the money” and “best quality.” Cultivating consumer trust requires greater transparency. Consumers value companies that are open and honest about their data-use practices, and greatly appreciate companies that effectively manage consumer consent. Brands win when they put consent management processes into the data stream across the organization, making sure they get the experience they signed up for while complying with regulatory requirements. Transparency is good for business The need for greater transparency and trust in the industry will continue to grow. Brands and agencies that prioritize transparency will not only gain credibility and loyalty but will be better prepared to navigate the evolving advertising and regulatory landscape with confidence and integrity. Ultimately, transparency in advertising is just good business. To learn how you can harness the power of data in a transparent, privacy-preserving way, visit Snowflake for Advertising, Media and Entertainment. About Snowflake Snowflake enables every organization to mobilize their data with Snowflake’s Data Cloud. Customers use the Data Cloud to unite siloed data, discover and securely share data, power data applications, and execute diverse AI/ML and analytic workloads. Wherever data or users live, Snowflake delivers a single data experience that spans multiple clouds and geographies. Thousands of customers across many industries, including 691 of the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 (G2K) as of January 31, 2024, use the Snowflake Data Cloud to power their businesses. Learn more at snowflake.com.

How ad transparency and privacy are the industry’s new table stakes

Featured Stories