2021 was a year of social tension and personal frustration. 2021 could also be a turning point for online advertising as political awareness and action begin to emerge preventing the power of technology giants from being misused for their sole benefit. Let’s see…
2021 is over. Personally a year of corona hoop… followed by new disappointment. Is this how we will remember 2021? History will tell, but didn’t other events impact the flow of things more heavily?
In itself, the year’s start wasn’t bad, when President Biden took power in the White House. Mostly certainly a sign of hope for us Europeans after the Trump years. Although it certainly won’t be a walk in the park, given the enormous tensions between Republicans & Democrats, who in turn seem to have made merely the thwarting of their opponents’ plans their highest priority. One exception where both parties agree is their joint effort to assess whether the power of the tech giants has not become too great.
Cookie ban as from 2023
Awareness among lawmakers has thus grown and the European Commission drew a line by asking Google in 2021 to postpone the 3rd party cookie ban from Chrome until 2023. At first sight, that may seem contradictory, but it is a very valid concern that companies with historical data lead could further strengthen their dominance. Certainly, if the market is not ready and the solutions have not yet been sufficiently worked out. The article from De Standaard also proves that turbulent times are coming, pointing out that a number of changes to Apple’s privacy policy have already caused Facebook’s growth to slow down in Q3 2021.
So let’s join forces – advertisers and agencies, including in smaller countries – to make our modest contribution to building a new digital advertising world. With respect for privacy and social interest. Let us focus on consent & 1st party data, and embrace the new solutions to be able to continue to offer relevant, personalized advertisements on the open internet outside the walled gardens of Facebook, Google, Apple & Amazon to help finance quality content, freely accessible to everyone.
Internet for Everyone
Every brand should have access to its target group at a fair price, without running the risk of being squeezed to death. And all consumers must accept that free content is offset by advertisers that fund quality content. Therefore, as S1 Digital, we continue to strive in strategic partnerships to offer our clients solutions that capitalize on the use of data to reach their target audience as effectively as possible. With respect for privacy and social interest.
Solutions such as The Trade Desk & Criteo are perfect challengers for the walled gardens of Facebook & Google. But every advertiser, big or small, needs to realize that we will have to overcome strong headwind. A well thaught data strategy will be the cornerstone to remain independency from foreign multinationals. And the next big thing is undoubtedly already developing.
The next big thing is undoubtedly already in full development. To experience all that from the front row, 2021 was also the year of a return to the agency side. And personally, that’s probably the change with the highest positive impact…
Wishing you a fantastic 2022, full of warm, personal meetings to put the digital advertising market together in a new fold.
