THE PCTA PROJECT
Post-Cookie Targeting Analysis

Assessing Targeting in a Post-Cookie World

An increasingly siloed internet has led to imbalance across the ecosystem, and it’s not getting any easier. Privacy, in particular, is accelerating the imbalance. The evolution of browsers, the demise of third-party cookies, and growing consumer awareness (not to mention burgeoning government regulation) are fast-tracking marketers toward a future where it is no longer opt-out, but opt-in.

The Post-Cookie Targeting Analysis (PCTA) Project was conceived by Prohaska Consulting to explore the opportunities presented by Deterministic, Probabilistic, Contextual, and Behavioral options in an effort to determine what success looks like in this new landscape.

“…urgency persists and the industry should remain committed to moving beyond this identifier [cookies].”
Travis Clinger
Travis ClingerLiveRamp
“…a scalable and privacy-safe solution already exists, and they can test with publishers today.”
Joe Root
Joe RootPermutive
“Full speed ahead.”
Leading DMP Provider
“The industry needs someone to act like the Olympic Committee to help select the contestants. We’re ready to compete.”
Leading DMP Provider
“…this is a long journey and the preparation should still continue, we can’t let up.”
Remi Cackel
Remi CackelTeads
“Marketers will rely more on first-party data in wake of Google's move, but are confused about how.”
AdAge
AdAge6/30/21
“…brands, agencies, publishers, and technology companies should remain focused on finding a long-term alternative…Post-cookie solutions have value now.”
Konrad Feldman
Konrad FeldmanQuantcast

The Approach

Prohaska Consulting has assembled  a consortium of advertisers, agencies, and data/technology providers to test our working hypothesis—i.e., that optimal targeting strategies in a post-cookie world are dependent on advertiser objectives and business conditions. Together, we are examining how campaigns perform across multiple methodologies in order to uncover best practices for targeting and to fully understand the impact the lack of cookies will have on the efficacy of each method.

  • Deterministic: Known PII 1st-party
  • Behavioral: 1st- and 3rd-party purchase-based and web behavior
  • Contextual: Content and location
  • Probabilistic: 
    • Inferred
    • Look-alike/Cohorts

Our approach to this study is one of partnership.  We are bringing the industry together in an effort to discover:

  • Whether the new methods produce the same benefits and limitations
  • The pros and cons to each tactic
  • Which combinations of two or more of these tactics leads to the greatest performance for a campaign
  • A firm understanding of how to best utilize all of these targeting solutions in an increasingly cookieless environment

PCTA Partners

Lotame
c-vevo
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Contribute to the Study

There is still time to contribute campaigns to the study—fill out the form below for more information on how to participate in this groundbreaking research initiative.