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From Chrome to Android: A 2024 roadmap for the Privacy Sandbox

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From Chrome to Android: A 2024 roadmap for the Privacy Sandbox

Chrome’s third-party cookies will be phased out in 2024 – and for some users, as early as the first quarter. Alternative solutions are more in demand than ever – and Google is paving the way with their Privacy Sandbox. To learn about the latest developments and opportunities that the Privacy Sandbox has to offer,onlinemarketing.de spoke to Google, Remerge and AppsFlyer about their collaboration on this initiative. The below article was originally written in German by Niklas Lewanczik.

Privacy Sandbox update: A roadmap for marketing in the privacy-first era

Online marketing will change dramatically in 2024. The deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome has been in the works for years – and now it’s here. Starting in the first quarter of the new year, scaled testing of new, alternative solutions through the Privacy Sandbox will be begin as cookies are disabled for one percent of Chrome users. Google's Anthony Chavez, VP of the Privacy Sandbox, explains:“On January 4th, we'll begin testing ‘Tracking Protection’, a new feature which, by default, limits cross-site tracking by limiting websites' access to third-party cookies. This is an important milestone in our Privacy Sandbox initiative, with the aim of phasing out third-party cookies for all users in the second half of 2024; provided we have satisfied the requirements of the UK’s ‘Competition and Markets Authority.”

Privacy Sandbox roadmap

The Privacy Sandbox is Google's toolbox of advertising solutions. According to Hanne Tuomisto-Inch, Google's Director of Privacy Sandbox Partnerships in the EMEA region, the initiative provides the building blocks for privacy-centric advertising. These tools enable industry players to develop and use contemporary and data protection-friendly advertising solutions. Together with Roy Yanai, Vice President of Product at AppsFlyer, Pan Katsukis, CEO and founder of Remerge, and Lidia Schneck, Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google, we discussed the latest developments around the Privacy Sandbox, as well as the current touchpoints and opportunities for the industry.

The Privacy Sandbox and the deprecation of cookies. What happens next?

According to Tuomisto-Inch, the Privacy Sandbox is ‘a technology where privacy takes precedence’.

This sentiment was evident in the latest Chrome update, which arrived just in time for the browser's 15th birthday – enabling more security and personalization options than ever. With its various data protection features and user-centric initiatives, Google has already surpassed several milestones in 2023 on its journey to a future of cookieless marketing. For example, in March of 2023, the company announced that it was partnering with Fastly to operate an Oblivious HTTP Relay (OHTTP), creating an alternative targeting tool called ‘Protected Audience’ (previously known as FLEDGE).

OHTTP Relay, Fastly explains, provides fast and reliable separation and isolation of an individual’s user data, while forwarding non-identifying requests to the business server. This is intended to protect individual user information while collecting aggregated data. Mozilla also relies on this OHTTP solution for the Firefox browser.

The Protected Audience API is one of the solutions from the Privacy Sandbox that Google is making available to the industry, in order to enable a cookieless future. Other tools of the Sandbox include the Topics API (the successor to FLoC), the Attribution Reporting API, Private State Token API and Related Website Sets API. But how exactly do these solutions help marketers to launch successful, privacy-compliant advertising initiatives in 2024 and beyond?

Testing, testing, testing

As with any other marketing channel, extensive testing is the key to finding long term success in a world without cookies. Google recently created a guide for using the Attribution Reporting API (ARA) and explained how the Google Ads team uses it for measurement of advertising metrics. Harikesh Nair, senior director of data science and ads measurement at Google, explains:

“It’s crucial for ad-tech providers to effectively configure the ARA for their use cases. Google’s ads teams have found that configuring specific ARA settings can lead to notable accuracy improvements. We encourage other ad-tech providers to integrate with the ARA to retrieve the conversion data they need, and process the ARA’s output to help maintain accurate measurement in a post-third-party-cookie world. The ARA is flexible to support various use cases.”

Google made the Privacy Sandbox's Relevance and Measurement APIs available to all Chrome users in September 2023 and expects “a wide range of testing methodologies based on different testing objectives - from individual company testing to broader coordinated testing across multiple organizations.’’ In this blog post, Google’s Chavez explains:

“We look forward to continuing to work with participants across the entire industry as we take these next steps toward eliminating third-party cookies in Chrome to improve online privacy for everyone.”

It’s already been a few months since Google presented the first test results in relation to the Topics API. Their tests reveal that the new data protection-friendly solutions can perform similarly to third-party cookies. In the test, the rate at which users click on an ad, (CTR), was 90 percent of what it currently is with cookies. Dan Taylor, Vice President of Global Ads at Google, explains how performance can be optimized without third-party cookies:

“Our tests show that campaigns can be optimized using AI-supported solutions. For example, campaigns that used 'Optimized Targeting' or the 'Maximize Conversions' bidding strategy achieved even better results, proving that AI-powered optimization solutions will play an important role.”

According to Dan Taylor, results derived from the testing of measurement solutions are likely to vary – but over time, they will give industry players a clearer picture of what is needed to run marketing initiatives in a future without third-party cookies.

The Privacy Sandbox is also being tested for Android

Mobile testing was also made possible for select industry players in February 2023, following the long-awaited beta launch of the Privacy Sandbox for Android. Companies testing these mobile privacy tools include the DSP Remerge and the MMP AppsFlyer.

Privacy Sandbox for Android

The Privacy Sandbox for Android is available to AdTech platforms for testing on an increasing number of Android 13 devices. Remerge CEO Pan Katsukis, Roy Yanai, VP of Product at AppsFlyer and Hanne Tuomisto-Inch, Google's Director of Privacy Sandbox Partnerships for EMEA, all agree that advertisers and mobile marketers should ask their providers about current test results and developments in order to stay up to date. Transparent conversation on the topic seems to be more important than ever, with Roy Yanai explaining in a recent interview: “speak to your providers – this is the time to make changes.”

App developers who cooperate with third-party providers for advertising-related services can participate in the Privacy Sandbox tests through their providers. Google has also published a special guide for developers on how to take part in the beta phase. This explains how and why developers should use the Android Extensions SDK with the Privacy Sandbox APIs. In terms of beta testing, the Attribution Reporting API is already available on a significant proportion of Android 13 devices. There are plans to further expand availability for all APIs, in order to help AdTech providers conduct more scaled testing in the coming months.

By running these early tests, DSPs like Remerge and MMPs like AppsFlyer play a crucial role in shaping a future where mobile advertising does not rely on cross-app identifiers.

Opportunity reshuffle

Emerging potential for the marketing scene

The goal of the Privacy Sandbox for Android is to reassure users that their data is protected. In parallel, Google also wants to provide developers and companies with the tools they need to achieve success in mobile advertising. The company wants to avoid methods such as fingerprinting for user tracking and therefore wants to involve companies in the process of developing privacy-centric solutions. The companies' tests also reveal issues and challenges that don't exist within cookie-based advertising. Roy Yanai and Pan Katsukis say they are evaluating these gaps and trying to bridge them with suitable solutions. This is the only way marketing can develop in the long term. For some time, users have been demanding more data protection – not only in terms of advertising, but in everyday digital life.

Opportunity reshuffle

The shift toward data privacy also creates new potential for the way in which advertising and performance data will be classified in future. Speaking of this ‘opportunity reshuffle’, Roy Yanai explains:

“After extensive research and collaboration with the teams at Android and Remerge, we are excited about the possibilities that the Protected Audience API will open up for many companies in the remarketing space. Beyond remarketing, the Protected Audience API is a big step forward for the app ecosystem and shows how technology can be used to protect privacy without impacting the user experience.”

Companies have to prepare for changes; the CRM function alone will have to change significantly when using the Privacy Sandbox’s cookieless solutions. Events for performance measurement may need to be redefined – and so will target audiences and targeting parameters. Companies who adapt well, (ideally now), will have the greatest competitive advantage in the long term. This is also why it's so important for all industry participants to get in touch with providers, advertising companies, media, Google, and other players, to keep up with the status quo. Ultimately, it is not advertising itself that will have to change, but rather the technology and the way in which marketing channels are used.

According to Pan Katsukis, the new types of attribution reporting offer big advantages for advertising measurement because they finally bridge the gap between app and web. In the mobile age, this is an opportunity that the marketing industry can look forward to.

Stay tuned – Google and other players like Remerge and AppsFlyer will have more developments to share in early 2024.

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Retargeting lexicon
Programmatic Advertising

The automated process of buying and selling advertising space through digital platforms.

View-Through Attribution
view-through-attribution

Refer to: Attribution Methodology

Uplift Test
uplift-test

A randomized control trial test conducted by Remerge to measure the incremental impact of one or more campaigns.

See also: Randomized Controlled Trial

Uplift Report
uplift-report

A report by Remerge showing the results of an uplift test. It presents the incremental revenue generated, on top of organic and other marketing-driven conversions. Also contains observed values such as ad spend, group sizes, amount of conversions, converters, and revenues per group, plus other metrics.

SKAdNetwork
skadnetwork

Stands for Store Kit Advertising Network. Apple’s measurement framework for tracking mobile attribution. Introduced in 2018 and widely implemented in 2020 with the iOS 14.5 update.

Segment
segment

A group of users with common attributes such as location, demographics, activity level, value or amount of purchases, and how recently they last opened a specific app.

Retention Rate
retention-rate

The share of users active in the app within certain time frames after install, reengagement, or other events.

Retargeting
retargeting

A type of marketing channel used by an app owner to engage with their existing users through other channels within the same device. Usually, the aim is to encourage users to complete a particular task e.g. completing a purchase, buying in-game currency, placing a first order. The conventional way of retargeting relies on user IDs, such as AAID and IDFA.

Reshuffle
reshuffle

Reshuffle indicates the randomization and marking of users when they were once part of a test or control group.

In incrementality measurement, reshuffling the group assignment for a specific application fights aggregated bias over time where one group doesn't see any ads while the other group is constantly exposed to them.

Reshuffling is relevant in cases where a test has been running for a long time and/or in campaigns the experience more extensive changes to the campaign setups, segmentation, or creative strategy.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
real-time-bidding-rtb

The process by which individual ad placements are bought and sold via programmatic auctions that happen instantaneously. With real-time bidding, ad buyers bid on an ad space, which, if the auction is won, instantly displays the buyer's ad. This lets demand-side players such as advertisers or DSPs optimize the purchase of ad placements from multiple sources.

Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT)
randomised-controlled-trial-rct

A method that randomly separates a specific population into two groups that are as similar to each other as possible, namely the test group and control group.

further reading
Queries Per Second (QPS)
queries-per-second-qps

The number of ad placements a DSP is able to process in order to determine on how to bid on them.

Publisher
publisher

Within the sphere of app marketing, a publisher is an App Developer that gets paid for placing ads within their app. For example, an advertiser wants to reach their users via App Y, so they pay App Y to display their ads.

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Public Service Announcement Ad (PSA Ads)
public-service-announcement-ad-psa-ads

An incrementality testing methodology where devices in the control group are shown PSA ads, like donation drives or road safety reminders. By serving real ads, information on the devices within the control group that would have been exposed can be obtained. Unexposed devices are excluded from the measurement to reduce noise.

Probabilistic Attribution
probabilistic-attribution

Refer to: Attribution Methodology

Organic Behavior
organic-behavior

A user’s behavior not directly attributable to specific marketing efforts.

Multi-Touch Attribution
multi-touch-attribution

Refer to: Attribution Methodology

Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP)
mobile-measurement-partner-mmp

Within the sphere of app marketing, MMPs are a service provider that specializes in measuring activities that are happening within and leading to the app. An app publisher may incorporate an MMP into their app to track activity and events e.g. time spent on a certain screen, sources of incoming traffic, app opening frequencies etc.

Lifetime Value (LTV)
lifetime-value-ltv

The amount of revenue generated by the user for the App Developer during the entire duration of the relationship with the user, beginning with the app install.

Last-Click Attribution
last-click-attribution

Refer to: Attribution Methodology

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
key-performance-indicator-kpi

The key metrics used to assess the effectiveness of an effort in achieving its objective. In programmatic advertising, the common types of performance indicators depend on the goals and nature of each campaign. These can include ROAS, cost per action, and retention rate.

Intent-to-Treat (ITT)
intent-to-treat-itt

An incrementality testing methodology where no ads from the campaign are shown to devices within the control group. Also known as a ‘holdout test’. Cost-free and easy to implement, but with a relatively high level of noise.

This method compares the behavior of all users in both groups. In the test group, this includes both exposed and unexposed users

Incrementality
incrementality

A method of measuring the impact of a specific activity, on top of organic and other activity.

Incremental Revenue (iRevenue)
incremental-revenue-irevenue

The estimated revenue caused directly by the campaign.

Formula:Revenue from test group – revenue from control group = iRevenue

Incremental Return On Ad Spend (iROAS)
incremental-return-on-ad-spend-iroas

A KPI used in calculating how cost-efficient a campaign is. This is used to evaluate the relationship between incremental revenue and the amount of money spent on the campaign. The figure is typically represented in percentage.

Formula:
Percentage: [IRevenue ÷ ad spend] × 100 = IROAS%
Ratio: IRevenue ÷ ad spend = IROAS

Incremental Cost Per Action (iCPA)
incremental-cost-per-action-icpa

A KPI used to evaluate the cost of incremental conversions.

Formula:Ad spend ÷ [test group actions – control group actions] = iCPA

Incremental Conversions
incremental-conversions

The estimated amount of conversions caused directly by the campaign.

Formula:
Test group conversions – control group conversions (scaled) = Incremental conversions

In-app Event
in-app-event

Actions made by a user within the app, such as log-in, registration, completion of onboarding, or purchases. These events can be tracked with the help of an MMP.

Impression
impression

The deployment of the ad to the ad placement. An impression might not necessarily mean that the ad has been viewed.

Identifier for advertisers (IDFA)
identifier-for-advertisers-idfa

A unique random device identifier Apple generates and assigns to every iOS device. Advertisers can use this to track user activity across apps, show them personalized ads, and attribute ad interactions.

Ghost Ads
ghost-ads

A testing methodology that shows devices in the control group an ad ran by another advertiser on the platform, therefore removing any additional cost for clicks and impressions. The control group behavior is then marked with a ‘ghost impression’, which gives the information on which control group users would have been exposed.

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General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr

A regulation under the EU (European Union) law on data protection and privacy within the EU and the EEA (European Economic Area), that grants users control over how their data is stored and used by organizations. To comply with GDPR, programmatic sellers must clearly communicate to users how their data will be stored and used. When a user gives consent to an organization to process their data, it enables targeted advertising.

Exposure Rate
exposure-rate

The percentage of devices within a test group that received at least one ad impression, versus the total number of devices within the test group targeted within a campaign during an uplift test. For example, if 900 out of 1,000 users are shown an ad, the exposure rate is 90%.

See also: Uplift Test

Deterministic Attribution
deterministic-attribution

Refer to: Attribution Methodology

Deep link
deep-link

A link that sends users directly to a specific in-app location, instead of the app marketplace. Deep links bypass the steps needed to go through to reach a conversion point, bringing the user directly to where they can perform the intended action e.g. completing a purchase, buying coins, placing an order.

Test Group
test-group

Within the sphere of app marketing, this refers to the group of devices that may be shown ads from a specific campaign in the test. The actions on these devices are then compared to the actions on the devices in the control group.

Compare with: Control Group

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Control Group
control-group

Within the sphere of app marketing, this refers to the group of devices within the target audience that are not shown ads from a specific campaign in the test. The actions on these devices are then compared to the actions on the devices in the test group.

Compare with: Test Group

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Contextual targeting
contextual-targeting

A type of targeting that works with contextual signals only, such as location data (country, city, postal code), language setting, mobile operating system, device model, as well as publisher information.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
california-consumer-privacy-act-ccpa

A bill that enhances privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California, United States. The CCPA took effect on January 1, 2020.

The CCPA provides these rights to consumers:

- Know what personal data is being collected about them.
- Know whether their personal data is sold or disclosed, and to whom.
- Say no to the sale of personal data.
- Access their personal data.
- Request a business to delete any personal information that was collected from that consumer.
- Equal service and price, even if they exercise their privacy rights.

Attribution Window
attribution-window

A specific time frame that is taken into consideration when determining the source of a user’s action.

Attribution Provider (AP)
attribution-provider-ap

A role played by an MMP to credit the in-app activity of users to the correct media sources.

Attribution Methodology
attribution-methodology

Refers to the process of identifying which conversions belong to which preceding click or impression. Common attribution methodologies include:

  • Click-Through Attribution - Determines the source of a conversion based on the user’s click activity.

  • View-Through Attribution - Determines the source of a conversion based on the ad impression delivered to the user.

  • Deterministic Attribution - A model that establishes the origin of a user’s conversion from a specific click or impression, based on unique device IDs.

  • Probabilistic Attribution - A model that establishes the likelihood of a user’s conversion originating from a specific click or impression, based on the data logged on both occasions, such as device language, timezone, IP address, and OS version.

  • Last-Touch Attribution - A model that establishes a match between the action taken by a user (e.g. app open, purchase) and its corresponding ad click or impression. When a user converts from an ad, the DSP that delivered the respective ad is given full credit for that conversion event.

  • Multi-Touch Attribution - Also known as multi-channel attribution. A model determines the value of every touchpoint on the way to a conversion. Rather than giving full credit to one ad, multi-touch attribution divides the credit among all advertising channels that the user has interacted with, leading to the conversion.
Attribution
attribution

A method of identifying the touchpoints a user has encountered within a specified period before making a conversion.

App Tracking Transparency (ATT)
app-tracking-transparency-att

The privacy framework from Apple that, among other things, manages the process of obtaining user consent before accessing their Identifier for Advertiser (IDFA).

App Monetization
app-monetization

The strategy a publisher employs to earn money from their app. This can be done through in-app advertisements, paid membership, and charging for premium features or an ad-free experience, among others. For example, some gaming apps are free to download and play, but users may need to pay in order to progress to the next level quickly.

Android Advertising identifier (AAID)
android-advertising-identifier-aaid

Also known as Google Advertising Identifier. A unique device identifier that Android generates and assigns to every device. Advertisers can use this to track user activity across apps, show them personalized ads, and attribute ad interactions.

Advertisers
advertisers

The advertiser is a person or legal entity focusing on generating sales and leads through serving ads that convey the right message to the right audience at the right time.

In mobile advertising, the advertiser is on the client-side and is the one interested in promoting an app.

Causal Impact Analysis
causal-impact-analysis

A measurement framework developed by Google that works without device IDs. It measures the incremental uplift of one or more conversion events, removing the influence of other campaigns and organic conversions. Used to assess the effect of ID-less campaigns.

Similar to measuring the effect TV ads have, the principle is based on running campaigns on identifiable sub-markets (test group), while leaving other sub-markets unexposed (control group).

Ghost Bids
ghost-bids

An incrementality testing methodology based on Ghost Ads, adapted for retargeting campaigns. The difference is that it removes all devices that are not seen on ad exchanges, or that would not be bid on, from both test and control groups, to reduce noise. A bid is placed as usual for the test group, while the control group is tracked with ‘ghost bids’ (bids that could have been placed, but weren’t in the end).

Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS)
return-on-advertising-spend-roas

A KPI that measures the relationship between the revenue generated by specific advertising efforts and the money spent on them.

Formula

Percentage: [Revenue ÷ ad spend] × 100 = ROAS%

Ratio: Revenue ÷ ad spend = ROAS

See also: Incremental Return On Ad Spend

Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
supply-side-platform-ssp

A company that works with publishers to sell ad inventory across ad networks.

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
demand-side-platform-dsp

A company that works with advertisers to purchase ad inventory across ad networks. Their platforms are built to identify a desired ad space and place bids on it.

Compare with: Supply-Side Platform

Open RTB
open-rtb

A digital marketplace where ad inventory from multiple publishers are available for advertisers to bid on in real time.

See also: Real-Time Bidding

Self-Attributing Network
self-attributing-network

An ad network like Meta, Snap, and Twitter, that attributes its traffic internally, without the involvement of third-party MMPs.

Variable Bidding
variable-bidding

The dynamic adjustment of bid prices based on a user's in-app behavioral patterns, contextual information, time of day, and ad placement performance.

Dynamic Product Ad (DPA)
dynamic-product-ad-dpa

Also known as a dynamic ad. It is dynamically assembled based on the user’s behavior and information sourced from a feed. This type of ad delivers a tailored experience for individual users.

Real-Time Audience Segmentation
real-time-audience-segmentation

The division of an audience into distinct segments based on real-time events, thus enabling targeted advertising and alignment with a user's behavioral patterns and preferences.

User Acquisition (UA)
user-acquisition-ua

A mobile marketing effort used to attract new users to an app. Paid UA may refer to ads shown in mobile ad networks or social media channels, while non-paid UA involves app store optimization and promotion on the advertiser’s own channels.

Programmatic Advertising
programmatic-advertising

The automated process of buying and selling advertising space through digital platforms.

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