Programmatic advertising adapts to cookie deprecation
With Google's phase-out of third-party cookies in its final stages, the programmatic advertising industry is shifting its focus to privacy-centric strategies. Media buyers now face "measurement blind spots" and are increasing their reliance on first-party data, contextual targeting, and Privacy Sandbox APIs like Topics and FLEDGE. In response, agencies are demanding greater supply path transparency and adopting new measurement models to maintain brand trust and effectiveness, as noted by Index Exchange's Mike McNeeley.
- Despite Google's July 2024 announcement that it would not deprecate third-party cookies, the industry continues to shift toward privacy-first alternatives. This is driven by the fact that nearly half the open web, including major browsers like Safari and Firefox and environments like CTV, already operates without them. - Early 2025 tests of Google's Privacy Sandbox showed mixed results; while the APIs helped mitigate publisher revenue loss compared to having no cookies or solutions, they did not close the gap entirely. Index Exchange reported a 33% decline in CPMs on Sandbox-enabled impressions compared to impressions with a third-party cookie. - AI agents are moving from creative support to operational infrastructure in enterprise marketing, automating workflows like campaign setup, testing, and optimization. Adtech firm Fluency recently raised $40 million to expand its AI agent platform, which embeds directly into campaign workflows to reduce manual work and improve consistency. - For CTOs at growth-stage companies, scaling engineering teams requires designing a predictable system across people, processes, and technology, rather than simply increasing headcount. Key inflection points occur around 10-15 engineers, where informal communication breaks down, and beyond 30, where managing through multiple leadership layers becomes critical. - In 2025, UK tech funding reached £11.7 billion ($15.3B), maintaining its position as the second-highest funded country globally despite an 11% year-over-year decline. London-based firms captured 78% of this total, with enterprise applications overtaking fintech as the top-funded sector. - The 2026 Formula 1 regulations will introduce a radical power unit redesign, moving to a 50/50 split between a smaller 400kW internal combustion engine and a much larger 350kW electric motor. The cars will run on 100% sustainable "drop-in" fuels and feature active aerodynamics with movable front and rear wings to replace the Drag Reduction System (DRS). - Server-side conversion tracking via APIs (CAPI) is becoming critical for attribution as browser-side pixels become less reliable due to ad blockers and privacy settings. Meta has estimated that it underreports iOS web conversions by approximately 15% due to these limitations. - Alternative identity solutions are seeing varied adoption; The Trade Desk has reported that publishers using its Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) are experiencing a 30% increase in CPMs, while some publishers without any identity solution have seen pricing drop by 30%.
