Mumbai: Integral Ad Science (IAS), in collaboration with YouGov and a market research firm, has released its report ‘2022 Future of Privacy-First Advertising.’

IAS surveyed 346 digital media experts and 1,131 consumers about their opinions on the future of ad targeting, upcoming changes to online data and privacy policies, and how media quality solutions can help marketers be more effective.

The findings revealed that consumers have serious concerns about the security of their personal information when using the internet; that they are unaware of the laws governing the collection and use of their personal data; and that they are very uncomfortable when their online activity is used for advertising.

IAS Global chief commercial officer Yannis Dosios said, "With upcoming online data and privacy policy changes coming down the pipe, privacy continues to be a priority for both consumers and media experts."

He further added, "IAS is well-suited to help ease the concerns of privacy policy transitions through our contextual targeting solutions that will help advertisers reach their ideal audience at scale, all while respecting their privacy."

The report explores a gap between what organisations are actually doing to deal with these changes and how crucial it is for media professionals to understand data privacy policies, as well as how concerned they are about how these policies will affect their work.

The report also examines how brands are currently dealing with cookie depreciation through contextual, privacy-first advertising strategies that don't use individuals' personal information to target customers.

Online data privacy 

One of the report's key findings was that while consumers value online data privacy, their trust in the security of their online data is low.

While consumers agree that data privacy is important, only half (50 per cent) are confident in the security of their online data while surfing the web. More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of consumers also claim to be more cautious than ever when it comes to their privacy and online data.

Targeting techniques 

The study also discovered that consumers are aware of various targeting techniques. However, they might feel uncomfortable with their data being used for advertising.

Although the majority of consumers (68 per cent) are still uncomfortable with personalisation, despite the fact that 90 per cent (nine in ten) of users are aware that websites and apps collect and share their data for advertising purposes.

Brands have the chance to change the targeted ad experience so that contextual relevance is the driving factor. This would result in a better user experience for consumers and better results for advertisers.

Privacy policy 

Although the majority of media experts are concerned about evolving privacy policies, many are unaware of them and the majority lack a clear management strategy.

Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of media experts concur that this year it is important to understand data privacy, and an overwhelming majority (89 per cent) say that brands are particularly concerned about PII privacy.

However, only about half of digital media experts are knowledgeable about privacy policy-related topics pertaining to browsers (53 per cent), regulations (51 per cent) or mobile identifiers (45 per cent).

Furthermore, only 36 per cent of media experts claimed that their company had set up a team to handle upcoming policy changes, while 29 per cent said that they had taken no action.

Contextual content

The report suggested that brands should match their advertisements with contextually relevant content that appeals to consumers more.

After seeing a targeted advertisement, 66 per cent of consumers said they are likely to visit a brand's or product's website.

Considering consumers' privacy concerns and desire for relevance, contextual targeting is an easy option for advertisers, but only 29 per cent of media experts have used this tactic.

The majority of media experts (51 per cent) concur that ad buyers and sellers must actively cooperate throughout privacy changes and that media quality solutions will become more crucial for ensuring the right audiences are reached.