Amazon partners with UK's biggest online publisher for data to run targeted ads days after Google kills cookies

In response to Google’s elimination of “cookies,” tech giant Amazon has forged a new kind of a deal with the UK’s largest publisher, Reach, focusing on acquiring customer data for targeted online advertising. Google’s recent decision to phase out cookies on its Chrome browser, following Apple’s similar move with Safari, has prompted the media industry to seek alternatives.

The partnership, one of the first of its kind in Europe, aims to counter the loss of “third-party” cookies, which gather user information by tracking their online activity across websites. Amazon and Reach’s collaboration will involve sharing “contextual” first-party data, such as users’ article preferences, enabling Amazon to enhance targeted advertising on Reach’s platforms. The financial details of the arrangement remain undisclosed.

The collaboration centres on Mantis, initially developed as a brand safety tool to prevent ads from appearing alongside inappropriate content. Now, Mantis is leveraged for contextual advertising, strategically placing ads adjacent to content that aligns with user interests. The shift away from cookies poses challenges for advertisers, as the majority of internet users become less identifiable, potentially reducing the value of publishers’ advertising offers.

Frazer Locke, Amazon Ads Director of EU Adtech Sales, emphasized the importance of first-party contextual signals in the absence of cookies, allowing actionable insights for advertisers without compromising reach, relevance, or ad performance.

The media industry anticipates more deals involving customer data, with publishers exploring registration pages and paywalls to gather first-party information from users. Reach, facing ad revenue losses and job cuts, is already working to extract more first-party data from its readers.

Jon Steinberg, CEO of Future, a competing FTSE 250 publisher, acknowledged the significant impact of eliminating third-party cookies, predicting closer collaboration between advertisers, agencies, and quality publishers to reach audiences effectively.

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of advertising firm S4 Capital, highlighted the urgency for companies without access to first-party data to encourage user sign-ups, emphasizing a heightened focus on “consented data” to boost companies’ data stores.

(With inputs from agencies)