The Sandbox Won’t Provide All the Answers

Some may be holding out hope that Google’s Privacy Sandbox will be a sufficient supplement and will act as a unified solution. However, The Sandbox faces serious scrutiny regarding transparency, effectiveness, and control issues from regulators, marketers, and publishers alike. Indeed, it has become abundantly clear that – even if deemed regulatorily sound – the APIs within will not be comprehensive enough to satisfy the needs of advertisers or publishers, likely failing to meet every expectation around revenue and performance. 

This isn’t to say that The Sandbox should be disregarded completely - Experimenting and testing is key to any successful strategy - but a combination of solutions for engaging with the multi-ID world will be required to produce the most effective digital advertising. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool on the market, and there never will be, especially when it’s taken into account that half of online users already browse in cookieless environments, such as Safari and Firefox – environments that the Sandbox will never cater to.

With over 400 IDs already in play, if advertisers want to be able to reach 100% of people online, it’s vital to have tools in place that work within the multi-ID world.

Exploring these solutions starts with a roadmap, laying out a plan to test a variety of tools and assess which ones work for the business and which ones don’t. First-party data, unified ID, and collaborative data sharing solutions should be considered in various combinations, with the aim of achieving the best possible reach, scale, and effectiveness for the brand.

Among these strategies, first-party IDs will be the most significant contributor to success. These identifiers are controlled and owned by the publisher or the advertiser, granting them full autonomy over their usage,  rather than relying on Google. What’s more, unlike the Sandbox, first-party IDs can be utilised across browsers and devices, and optimised for reach, frequency, and audience targeting.

Importantly, a first-party future enables better frequency capping and a reduction in media wastage. This can, in turn, be translated into greater reach due to the lower costs in the first instance.

The future of digital advertising solved

Relying solely on Google puts the industry into a position where it’s once again surrendering control over to the largest platforms. These platforms can’t be the only ones able to dictate how consumer data is leveraged for advertising. Instead, both publishers and advertisers need to be connecting more closely with consumers, providing them with more protection over their data, rather than falling back into the traps of old. This enhances experience, and fairer value exchange will ultimately benefit all three parties and ensure a truly open web.

Advertisers need to change the game by moving away from the comfort of the Google bubble, because cookies will likely disappear and Sandbox’s final look is likely not going to measure up. There are plenty of solutions on the market that should be explored, and a combination of these are going to provide the results that brands are looking for.

They should partner with those that offer precise targeting and accurate measurement through a combination of first-party IDs and alternative solutions. This approach will drive game-changing ad performance effectiveness while respecting privacy and complying with regulations.