Google announced late Tuesday that it is delaying the deprecation of third-party cookies once again, extending the deadline that was originally set for 2022. While many marketers were breathing a little easier following the decision, “this is NOT a reprieve,” said our analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf. “The industry just has more time to reach the finish line. Let’s not squander it.” Here are four important takeaways from the delay.

67% of marketers thought third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome would occur this year, according to August 2023 data from ID5. Google just announced that it was delaying this timeline to 2025.

Google announced that it will not complete third-party deprecation during the second half of Q4 2024 as originally planned.

A rundown of the top trends and takeaways for advertisers from public policy- and privacy-related conferences held in early April.

UK regulators could force Google to delay Privacy Sandbox: An internal report found that Privacy Sandbox doesn’t hold up to regulatory standards, dealing a blow to its rollout.

Meta raises AI stakes: Meta AI has a competitive advantage over ChatGPT in potential distribution and could eventually provide new surfaces to serve ads.

After spending 2023 making improvements to product inventory and the customer experience, Rent the Runway is turning its attention back to marketing by expanding into new channels and tailoring its content.

In 2024, a perfect storm of technology, business, and consumer behavior trends will conspire to intensify the challenges of protecting brands on digital media.

“We're never going to get back to what [digital advertising] used to be. And the sooner we all embrace that, the easier it will become,” said Colleen Harris, director and product manager at Ansira. And yet, less than half (47%) of marketers worldwide are working on a plan to approach cookie-free targeting, according to September 2023 data from HubSpot. With under nine months to go until the death of the third-party cookie, marketers need to make and execute plans quickly.

Generative AI search engine Perplexity will launch ads in the next few quarters. But while advertisers probably don’t need to form Perplexity ad strategies just yet, they should keep an eye on how the search engine is approaching monetization for clues into what Google (and other emerging search competitors) could do in the future.

Google Contemplates HubSpot deal: A move that could redefine the martech sector, blending CRM prowess with advertising innovation.

Here’s what a TikTok-less America would look like for marketers, users, and creators, based on our latest forecasts.

Disney and NBCU signal a major shift in CTV ad buys: Both are working with The Trade Desk to make inventory available programmatically.

The impact of third-party cookie deprecation goes beyond changes to ad targeting and tracking. As the industry moves away from these identifiers, new challenges and trends have cropped up: IP addresses may be more difficult to access, retail media as an addressable channel is growing, and there’s greater focus on frequent media mix modeling (MMM) adjustments.

Retail will account for over a quarter (28.7%) of all US digital ad spending in 2024.

Last week, Apple made news for testing an AI-powered ad product similar to Google’s Performance Max. Apple has been successfully investing in advertising for the past few years. But Google has a multibillion dollar advertising advantage. Even with AI advertising improvements, Apple is nowhere near Google’s ad dominance.

Discover the dynamic shift toward digital wallets in the US and the UK in the latest podcast episode of "Behind the Numbers: The Banking & Payments Show." Delve into the compelling discourse on how younger generations' move to digital is rendering traditional wallets obsolete. Join host Rob Rubin, our US-based analyst Tyler Van Dyke, and UK-based analyst Carina Perkins as they unravel trends in digital transactions for dining, shopping, and ID verification. In the "For Argument's Sake" section, we dissect the fierce competition for market dominance among industry giants like Apple and Google, established players like PayPal, rising star Paze, and potential disruptors. Tune in for a forward-looking conversation and hit subscribe for the latest insights. Key insights: - Youth-led shift: Analysis reveals a robust trend among younger consumers pivoting to digital wallets for everyday activities, indicating a cultural and technological shift. - Market dominance debate: We uncover the strategic moves by tech titans and emergent challengers vying to capture the largest share of digital wallet users. - Cross-Atlantic perspectives: Insights from US and UK analysts present a diverse view on the adoption of digital wallets, offering a broader understanding of the global digital economy.

While TikTok’s fate is in limbo, the sharks circle round: Surveys show strong support for Reels if the app is banned, while China says it doesn’t support a forced sale.

Big Tech (Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft) will attract nearly two-thirds of US digital ad dollars this year, according to our October 2023 forecast.