LiveRamp’s stock has spiked over 7% since Google’s announcement Tuesday.
Other leading identity providers like Yahoo may also benefit from stronger data signals.
At this point, any adtech firm with a significant portion of its business linked to the open web may gain off the pivot, according to Ari Paparo, CEO of Marketecture Media. “They make high-margin, solid revenues on the back of the cookie,” he said. “And that revenue, in many cases, was assumed to be on its way out. It doesn’t seem to be anymore.”
PubMatic, Magnite, and larger SSPs
On the sell side, large supply-side platforms (SSPs) like PubMatic, Magnite, and Index Exchange will win, thanks to their efforts to integrate ID signals from publishers and their contextual insights.
“The advantage that some of these platforms have is that they work with publishers to receive better signal, and that continues to be a benefit” in the era of third-party cookies, according to Shah of Prohaska Consulting.
PubMatic, for its part, launched its identity management solution, Identity Hub, in 2020, allowing publishers to support various identifiers for every ad impression. Index Exchange and Magnite both offer similar solutions.
With cookies here to stay, these parts of the business are likely to flourish.
Plus, major SSPs are likely to maintain a strong position thanks to the value of the rich contextual signals at their disposal. Even with cookies still in the mix, SSPs have direct access to page-level content and real-time contextual data, which will remain valuable for brand safety, creative relevance, and targeting in cookie-free environments like Safari, Firefox, and mobile apps.
“Magnite sees this latest third-party cookie postponement as a welcome admission of the challenges with Privacy Sandbox proposals and a near term boon for the open web,” Garrett McGrath, svp of product management said in a statement shared with ADWEEK. Nonetheless, he said, the company will maintain a focus on “first-party signals and ensuring publishers and consumers retain control of addressability….”
Vox Media, Newsweek, and other cookie-reliant publishers
A variety of open web publishers may also be heaving a sigh of relief.
“The reprieve sustains revenue streams for publishers reliant on third-party cookies, particularly smaller outlets and journalism platforms,” said Lou Paskalis, chief strategy officer at Ad Fontes Media, a media watchdog.
In particular, he points to outlets like Vox Media and Newsweek that have logged-in environments in which cookies enable them to supplement other data sets—information that ultimately helps them parse intent. And by some arguments, intent is more valuable than identity for advertisers.
“If I could only know one thing about you, I’d rather know that you’re in the market for a new product than who you are,” Paskalis said.
The Winners—with a caveat
Criteo, Audigent, and other big Privacy Sandbox investors
Leading open web adtech firms like Criteo are likely to see a bottom line benefit thanks to cookies’ resilience. Last year, Criteo’s CFO Sarah Glickman said the firm anticipated losses up to $40 million in the second half of 2024 as Google moved to sunset cookies. Now, with those plans nixed, Criteo blocks those potential losses.