CDP Institute

It’s Google’s world; you just live in it.  In case you need reminding, Google Analytics will be removing first-click, linear, time-decay and position-based attribution models from its attribution reports.  AI-based, data-driven attribution is Google’s preferred option, and they’ve decided that’s now your preference too.  Don’t be bothered that Google controls the algorithms which measure its own performance.

Companies are using 4% fewer SaaS apps this year than last, according to data from SaaS management tool vendor Zylo.  The average is still an impressive 291, of which just 56% are used.  Utilization is much higher for email tracking (94%) but drops to 30% for data integration.  Lots of good stuff here.

This academic paper concludes that targeted Web ads are bad for consumers because they offer (slightly) higher prices and less well-known products than search ads.  It’s a questionable conclusion that was picked up The New York Times under the headline “If It’s Advertised to You Online, You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It. Here’s Why.”

Well, that didn’t take long: the excitement over generative AI tools like ChatGPT has already been replaced by growing concerns over their dangers.  The Center for Countering Digital Hate found it could easily bypass the guardrails in Google Bard to generate unlabeled misinformation in 78 of 100 tested cases.  And, moving from hypothetical to actual, an Australian politician is threatening to sue OpenAI after ChatGPT falsely reported that he was a convicted criminal.

After years of inaction, governments are taking stronger measures to control online information – a cure that might be worse than the disease.  Increasingly-authoritarian India has prohibited social media from sharing false information and set up its own fact-checking unit as the arbiter of truth.   And increasingly-authoritarian Arkansas is joining Utah in passing a law that gives parents closer control over their kids’ online activities.

Online safety isn’t the only regulatory threat facing big tech.  Germany’s anti-trust regulator Bundeskartellamt just ruled that Apple is subject to special controls due to its dominant market position.    And a coalition of UK publishers has just filed a £3.4 billion ($4.2 billion) lawsuit against Google claiming lost ad revenue.

It’s easy to think that third party data is going away, but that universe is actually alive and growing. Narrative provides a marketplace for data from more than 70 providers, including identifiers, demographics, behaviors, locations, purchase, and more. They just partnered with data clean room vendor Habu to make it easier for Habu clients to use.

You know that Oracle has advertising technology, but may not have realized that it also offers compiled audience data. They’ve just launched an integration with OpenX, which supports ad sales on CTV, apps, and websites. The deal will make it easier to define audiences using Oracle data and reach them through CTV and other channels.

Do you have a friend who’s a bit fuzzy on how CTV targeting works and how it can be privacy-compliant? The IAB has just the paper for you, a 48-page briefing called Project Crosswalk 2.0 that explains it all in glorious detail. Worth a look if this is a topic you expect to come up at the office or to fill an awkward silence on your next blind date.