Post-cookie: Google says identifiers will be allowed but only for publishers

Despite its recent announcement that it would not be supporting any individual-level identifiers as part of its Privacy Sandbox for the post-cookie world, Google has clarified that it will allow publisher-specific identifiers known as PPIDs, it announced in a new blog post.

Why it matters

As Ad Exchanger explains in its breakdown, the PPID (Publisher Provided Identifier) has been part of Google Ad Manager for a long time but was used for direct deals based on publishers’ valuable first-party data.

Simply, Google now aims to support publishers who want to connect their audiences to advertisers’ audiences to which they have a direct relationship, as the IAB Tech Lab explains.

The big difference is that Google is now trying to expand their use into programmatic buying and broaden accessibility so that smaller publishers can implement them.

Details

• The feature, explains Deepti Bhatnagar, Group Product Manager at Google Ad Manager, allows publishers to build custom audience segments, deliver campaigns via traditional reservations or Programmatic Guaranteed deals, and in turn, make more money.
• For smaller publishers, Google is experimenting with a “new feature” that will allow them to use this identifier easily and cheaply. Historically, the PPID has been the preserve of large publishers with big tech teams.
• “Publishers will have full control over what data is collected, and who can receive the signals,” Bhatnagar reassures. “Google will not be able to read or decrypt the signals. Ad Manager will only act as an intermediary on behalf of the publisher to pass the signals to the third-party bidders they choose.”