STUDY: As Cookies Crumble, Consumers Hesitate to Share Emails for ‘Better’ Ads

Adlook also finds 75% misunderstand privacy policies and 60% prefer group-based ad targeting

On January 4th, Google began phasing out third-party cookies, starting with 1% of Chrome users, affecting about 30 million people. This step is part of Google’s broader plan to completely remove cookies from Chrome by the end of this year, in the name of user privacy.

With digital advertising adjusting to the loss of cookies, advertisers and publishers are tackling new challenges in delivery, targeting, and measurement while seeking alternatives to cookies. But how do consumers view these potential alternatives and data privacy in this new era? To find out, Adlook, a next-generation brand growth platform, commissioned a survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers on January 3rd about the impending changes and their reactions. The company is releasing the findings today at CES 2024, with results as follows.

Email Address Skepticism

Adlook’s survey revealed 58% are positively influenced in their purchasing decisions by relevant ads. In contrast, 27% report rare influence, and 16% see no impact.

However, skepticism arises when consumers are asked about exchanging email addresses, which are becoming a popular alternative to cookies, for more or better targeted online ads. In fact, half (48%) were not in favor of sharing their emails for more targeted ads, with 30% prioritizing privacy and 18% considering it unlikely yet possible. Meanwhile, 29% expressed a conditional ‘maybe’ in sharing email addresses, depending on the ad’s value, and 23% agreed for better relevance.

“Many in our industry see hashed email as a cookie solution, yet consumers remain reluctant to trade emails for ads,” said Patrick Gut, VP of US at Adlook. “Email addresses are becoming more difficult to manage given PII concerns, dummy accounts, and beyond. To that end, AI offers a more long-term solution, with a focus on delivering, not just on cookie-less, but identity-less advertising.” ”

In response to whether discounts on products or services would motivate them to provide an email address, 62% showed interest, with 37% conditional on significant discounts and 25% always open to such offers. Meanwhile, 38% showed reluctance, with 22% limiting it to highly valued products only and 16% outright refusing.

Marketing Technology News: Nexxen SSP Partners with Taiv to Expand CTV OOH Offering

Understanding Privacy Policies

When it comes to reading online privacy policies, a combined 71% engage with the policy to some extent, with 51% skimming and 20% reading in full. However, 30% rarely or never review these policies.

Moreover, 75% say they do not understand the terms and conditions when accepting an online privacy policy (28%) or only partially understand (47%). Just 25% claim to “fully” grasp privacy policies.

“Many don’t fully read privacy policies or simply don’t understand them,” said Gut. “We need to better educate the public about these policies for their benefit in terms of user experience, advertising, and privacy.”

Online Tracking Safety

Nearly 60% (59%) believe targeting ads to a “user group” of anonymized individuals with similar characteristics is safer than traditional one-to-one ad targeting, while 27% view it as equally safe and 14% as less safe.

“Consumers are signaling a desire to end one-to-one user targeting,” said Gut. “Group-based targeting is gaining favor over legacy tracking. Enabling that is difficult however, and AI will need to play a role.”

Concerning consent to online tracking, 74% suspect some tracking still occurs even when they opt out. Among them, 42% are somewhat resigned, believing their dissent makes little difference and expecting to be tracked regardless. Only 26% expect no tracking after opting out.

“Apathy towards online tracking is clearly high,” said Gut. “People expect tracking despite opting out, highlighting the need for less ID-based and more AI-driven, anonymous targeting.”

Storing & Deleting Personal Data

In terms of security, 72% feel more secure storing personal data like browsing history and location on their devices with the option to delete it anytime. However, 20% see no difference, and 8% feel less secure with this capability.

Relatedly, the option to delete personal data from company, website, and app databases is considered important by 84% of respondents, with over half (51%) labeling it extremely so. In contrast, only 15% deem it unimportant or somewhat important.

“Consumers increasingly want control over their data, including storage and deletion on personal devices,” said Gut. “We anticipate growing demand for these features as awareness and savviness over data usage rises.”

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Daniel Head, CEO at Phrasee