Third-party cookie deprecation lets Google please privacy advocates while harming competitors.  Lest the competitive benefits become too clear, the company is eager to show that advertisers can get acceptable results from alternatives like contextual targeting, interest-based cohorts, and publishers’ first-party data.  It just released a test concluding exactly that: ad campaigns without third party cookies performed only a little worse than those using cookies. (Details here.) They mention but don’t stress that the test doesn’t consider lost measurement or retargeting.

What must worry Google above all is the decline in search marketing itself.  You’ll recall we reported last week that search’s share of U.S. Internet ad spend has been falling.  Today I’ll add this Jungle Scout report that people are starting their online shopping searches less with “search engines” (presumably mostly Google) and Amazon, and more with Walmart and TikTok.  Yikes!

It’s all surveys today, Dear Reader.  Marigold reports that consumers are eager for personalized content, with 79% saying they’re likely to engage with a personalized email tailored to their interests.  Sadly, 33% feel their needs are unmet by current brand messages.  Discounts and coupons (95%) top the list of what they want in exchange for personal data, followed closely by loyalty rewards at 94%.  Content is last at 61%.