Recent moves from big tech companies like Apple and Google to lock down user data became the unavoidable topic in ad tech earnings this week, reflecting the importance of such data in ad targeting—and the scramble to obtain it.

For the most part, ad tech firms expressed relief in Google’s announcement to continue to support third-party cookies until 2023. “The Google decision provides the industry with more time to transition and focus on advancement and adoption of alternative audience solutions,” said Michael Barrett, CEO of Magnite during the company’s second quarter earnings call. Other companies echoed a similar sentiment, with Megan Clarken, CEO at Criteo, saying during the company’s earnings call that Google's decision, “creates more time for our industry to prepare.”

For ad tech companies, Google’s stay of execution on the cookie gives the industry more time to hawk its own ad targeting solutions. Criteo, which is developing a contextual ad targeting product, said it would use the time to develop and bring its contextual targeting to market. Both Magnite and Criteo have signed on to use Unified ID 2.0, an industry-wide ad identifier solution spearheaded by The Trade Desk and now led by PreBid.

Apple’s privacy-focused moves to lock down user data on iOS devices, including through features like App Tracking Transparency permission popups, also drew mentions. “We actually are seeing that explicit consent is less than we anticipated,” said Sarah Glickman, chief financial officer at Criteo during the company’s recent earnings call. “The opt-out rates are around about 65%.” Magnite, meanwhile, said it saw a shift in ad spend from iOS to Android.

But companies with access to first-party data were more optimistic. “It’s definitely a more challenging environment for marketers, for independent ad tech, for small publishers who don't have a first-party direct consumer relationship, said Scott Rosenberg, senior VP, general manager, platform business at Roku. “I would not characterize that as a tailwind for CTV generally, but rather a benefit or an advantage for platforms and services like Roku who have got a first-party relationship.”

Criteo, Magnite and Roku all reported strong earnings this quarter. Criteo posted a 26% increase in year-over-year revenue to $551 million, while Magnite reported second quarter total revenue of 139% year-over-year to $100.4 million, exclusing the cost of acquiring traffic. 

Roku notably reported a disappointing 17.4 billion streaming hours during this quarter, a drop of about 1 billion hours comapred to the previous quarter. The streaming company also saw total net revenue growth of 81% year-over-year to $645 million.