We sat down with Teads’ executives at Cannes to discuss how the ad tech company is helping publishers navigate cookie deprecation, the current state of journalism, elections, and more.
The detrimental impact of third-party cookies on consumer privacy has been a hot industry topic for some time now, and with the deadline for cookie depreciation continuously being pushed back, more and more publishers are shrugging their shoulders to the end of cookies. Not surprisingly, only 32% of publishers are actively preparing for this change, according to a recent Teads survey.
The study surveyed 555 publishers across 58 countries, revealing an urgent need for the industry to adapt quickly. At Cannes, we met with Natalie Bastian, CMO of Teads, and were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Simon Klein, Global Head of Publishing. Onboard a yacht with a crisp blue aesthetic; we chatted about a future without cookies; the challenges publishers face, and Teads’ current initiatives to support them.
As we navigate this complex environment, even a blind man could see that there are too many different types of ID solutions on top of Google’s Privacy Sandbox.
“One minute cookieless is here, the next it’s delayed, then it’s happening again, but we don’t know when,” Klein explained. “We are trying to educate publishers as much as possible on what’s available. At Teads, we are cookieless by default since 2018.We are willing to work with every solution that we believe could actually help publishers generate more revenue.”
Teads and Publishers: A Partnership Driving Mutual Success
In digital media there is a ton of trial and error. Now more than ever, publishers need to ensure their SSP partners are resourceful. One aspect of Teads that is a major resource to publishers is its tech and engineering team. With about 400 team members, both teams do a lot of the leg work when it comes to investigating and understanding the best solutions.
According to Teads’ Publisher Preparedness study, 53% of publishers feel completely overwhelmed by the plethora of solutions. There are just too many. Through Teads’ Publisher Lab, the SSP hosts off-the-record conversations with publishers where they can all work together to derive roadmaps.
Think of it as a therapy session for publishers. As a major player focusing on the buy and sell sides, Teads is in a unique position giving them a responsibility to share all of the trends and traction that they see happening on the buy side with their publishers and vice versa.
“We are the connective tissue between all these publishers, but many aren’t necessarily talking to each other,” Bastian said. “Our workshops are cross-functional; we host the Publisher Lab quarterly on average, and we curate the conversation, but the publishers are the ones doing the talking.”
Keeping Publishers A Part of the Conversation
This year is significant, with 64 elections worldwide involving 49% of the global population. For voters to be informed, they need to have access to news. News publications need ads to survive. Quality publishers and news journalists need the support of brands and if ads continue to fund journalism, then it makes news more widely accessible. Many news outlets are going to a paywall, only to find out that subscriptions can be a struggle.
These outlets are turning on paywalls because they either need more funding to support their content or increase their first-party data set. Some of that is login-based, but even when logging in, it could still be free for readers.
“Many publishers are trying subscription or hybrid models to increase revenue,” Bastian explained. “We sit in a very unique position that is good for the consumer because we give them access to quality content. To keep this access open for everyone, it must be properly funded through quality ads and quality journalism.”
As Klein put it, at Teads, they are “making their pipes as efficient as possible.” That entails making their player a little quicker, and faster across every single environment, and making sure they have the critical pieces of their roadmap. When it comes to buyer partners, nearly 80% of Teads campaigns do not use a cookie-based solution. The need for urgent adoption is right in front of our faces, and while some are actively moving towards the cookiepocolypse, some are not moving as swiftly.