They did it, they really did it. Google really got rid of cookies. Sort of.

On January 4, Google’s Chrome browser began turning off third-party cookies for 1% of its users—or about 30 million users, according to Insider Intelligence—giving advertisers and publishers a glimpse at what Chrome, the most popular browser in the world, might look like after cookies.

The results might shock you. Just kidding. We now have a bit of a snapshot of some early data on the effects of this change from the first week without cookies, courtesy of Paul Bannister, the chief strategy officer for the publishing ad-tech company Raptive, which handles the advertising sales for a collective of publishers including Feel Good Foodie, Epic Gardening, and MacRumors.

“Uncookied Chrome users appear to be monetizing about 30% worse than those [users] with cookies,” Bannister wrote in a LinkedIn post sharing the early results. Is that a cause for alarm? That percentage “feels like a number that’s a solvable problem from the perspective of making money for publishers,” he told Marketing Brew. It’s at least better than he thought it might be: He told us that, if we asked him before January 4, he “would’ve guessed more like 50%.”

Users without cookies tend to be worth less because advertisers know less about them, Bannister explained. With less targeting available, there are fewer bids, and that can bring prices down.

According to Bannister, in a worst-case scenario, a 30% depreciation could translate to a 30% drop in revenue. Today, users of Apple’s Safari browser monetize about 60% worse than cookied Chrome users, he wrote. Safari’s been without cookies since 2020, and Apple has yet to introduce a post-cookie solution, like Google’s Privacy Sandbox. Bannister and Raptive will be able to see how cookieless Chrome users monetize using Privacy Sandbox in the next couple of weeks.

Read more here.—RB

Set up a 401(k), buy a starter home, retire by 65…we’ve heard it all before. But is that traditional financial advice still valid? And should it be?

The Money with Katie Show is a weekly podcast unpacking the biggest questions around millennial money, from the myth of the starter home to the impacts of self-care culture and the beauty industry.

See why this illuminating podcast has 5m+ downloads. Tune in now.

Advertising spend is expected to make a recovery in 2024, but legacy media will continue to face challenges, according to a new forecast from S&P Global Ratings.

Despite geopolitical events and economic fears that affected advertising spend in the first half of 2023, the report said advertising began to recover in the second half of the year.

• While it estimates real global economic growth will continue to lag for two years, advertising jumped 3.7% in 2023.
• Digital advertising is expected to see particularly strong growth this year; S&P Global estimates it grew 10.5% in 2023. It forecast that digital video, social, and search will make the biggest leaps this year, at 15%, 11%, and 9.5%, respectively.

Legacy media, on the other hand, will not fare as well.

S&P Global doesn’t expect the category, which includes linear TV and radio, to see “modest” growth until the second half of 2024. Advertisers are finally walking away from linear TV in particular, the report said; many viewers have already migrated to streaming platforms, and linear TV advertising dropped 10.8% in 2023. Legacy media as a whole dropped 8.5% in 2023, according to the report.

Red, white, and blue: With the 2024 US presidential election on the horizon, political advertisers are expected to stick with linear TV, however, and local TV is expected to attract more political advertising dollars this year compared to 2020.

“We continue to believe TV is more attractive than other forms of media for political advertisers given its significant reach and ability to target voters in select districts,” the report said.

Continue reading here.—JS

More than 1 billion people message a business each week on a Meta platform, according to the tech giant, but 50 million of these messages don’t get a response.

That was the impetus for a partnership between Meta and Dentsu, an international advertising agency, to develop a suite of “Intelligent Messaging” solutions that use AI-powered chatbots to improve customer engagement.

The companies unveiled the offering, which is set to launch by February, during a session at the Consumer Electronics Show on the ways retailers are adopting artificial intelligence. According to Dentsu, Intelligent Messaging will help brands boost their audience, increase one-on-one conversations with customers, and personalize marketing messages.

• The service will be available across Meta’s Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms.

This type of technology is commonly referred to as communications platform as a service (CPaaS), and it’s emerging as the growth of e-commerce incentivizes companies to improve online customer engagement.

Dentsu is currently testing out the service with William Grant & Sons, maker of scotch and whiskey brands such as Glenfiddich and Tullamore Dew.—AV

Unlock TikTok’s potential with eMarketer’s exclusive cheat sheet. Gain actionable tips and insights for leveraging TikTok as a potent marketing tool. Download it now to understand TikTok’s role in online shopping, harness the algorithm, and elevate your brand through impactful livestreaming. Get your copy today.