'This isn’t an easy topic to understand': Google's identifier forces ad tech to make some hard choices

Ad tech’s defiant optimism following Google’s rebuttal of user-level identifiers is less about the sector being in denial, and more an acknowledgment that there are few options on the table. March 15, 2021 Ad tech’s optimistic posturing against Google’s renewed war against user-level tracking belies an uncertain outlook. More than anything, the rebuke has ad tech vendors wondering who takes the pain, and can there be gain from the ensuing fallout. Naturally, they’re playing it safe until there’s a clearer answer. Meanwhile, companies that were bullish on one or two user-level identifiers spread their bets across a larger range of solutions if they weren’t already doing so. The smartest approach, it seems, is to hedge your near term bets. Read more below. - [Ad tech's defiant optimism]( following Google’s rebuttal of user-level identifiers is less about the sector being in denial, and more an acknowledgment that there are few options on the table. - For Digiday+ members, some themes emerged from the Digiday Media Buying Summit last week, including [tectonic shifts associated with data](, privacy and social media. - Cheat sheet: Lifestyle, business and finance [publishers are flocking to Clubhouse]( to meet audiences there and test ways to potentially monetize the platform in the near future. - Distributed work is rapidly creating fresh [opportunities to collaborate across borders](, timezones and cultures. - Brands have varying ways of [showing up at this year's virtual SXSW](. The festival is working with brands to determine what that looks like on a case-by-case basis. 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Top Stories Life Beyond the Cookie ['This isn’t an easy topic to understand': Google's identifier forces ad tech to make some hard choices]( Ad tech’s defiant optimism following Google’s rebuttal of user-level identifiers is less about the sector being in denial, and more an acknowledgment that there are few options on the table. howdy! DIGIDAY+ MEMBER EXCLUSIVE [Media Buying Briefing: 'It's hard to get off the crack of Facebook and Google']( Tectonic shifts associated with data, privacy and social media, whose impact is forcing media agencies, search executives and even clients to face the reality of what’s inexorably heading their way. Sponsored by DistroScale [Report: How publishers are preparing for a post-pandemic subscription dip]( The pandemic may have caused an increase in people paying for streaming services, but new research points to a shift in viewing content on free, ad-supported streaming TV platforms. Advertisement howdy! 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