MiQ, the leading global programmatic media partner, announced its transition to 100% of campaigns targeted without the use of cookies¹ across all media channels and platforms in the UK. 

Following this, attention has now turned to cookieless measurement, with Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox attribution testing open to all performance campaigns running with MiQ. As the advertising world continues to concentrate on building a privacy-first digital ecosystem, MiQ has given agencies and brands a head start in preparing for a world without cookies.

“Across the industry, we’ve observed solutions that might work in the short term for tech companies, but not necessarily long-term for brands, agencies, publishers, and most importantly, consumers,” said John Thomson, CRO, MiQ UK. “These solutions are either too narrow, not scalable or simply seek to replicate cookies without solving for the core issue of privacy. We’re proud to have developed MiQ Connected Audiences as a future-proofed audience solution that provides performance and scale for brands and agencies, whilst delivering on privacy.”

MiQ Connected Audiences is the industry’s most comprehensive audience dataset. It combines anonymous, authenticated, and real-time browser-based publisher data, giving agencies and brands diverse and custom audiences with targeting to any device and channel. However, cookieless media targeting isn’t sustainable until there’s a solution to measurement.  

“We are implementing a wide-ranging testing programme for post-cookie measurement, working collaboratively with advertisers and ad tech partners,” said Georgie Haig, global strategy & partnerships director, MiQ. “It’s imperative for us, as an industry, to understand the implications of integrating emerging privacy technologies, including Privacy Sandbox, and to provide relevant tests to marketers wherever possible. There is no turnkey solution when it comes to cookieless measurement, but our team has not only embraced the onset of regulatory changes, but also pivoted to accommodate these.” 

Advertisers testing Privacy Sandbox attribution with MiQ will receive: 

• Real-time audience generation: Using Privacy Sandbox data and AirGrid technology, advertisers working with MiQ will be able to use APIs to build ID-less, custom audiences that can be optimised to conversions based on real-time customer events.
• Campaign analytics: Powered by the Privacy Sandbox API, this will tie in new signals like Chrome Topics.
• Comparison reporting: Reports illustrating the differences in cookie-based vs cookieless attribution for their campaigns, will support advertisers’ ability to optimise post-cookie.

“Our team sees MiQ as a true leader in the identity and cookieless space,” said Nick Halas, global product strategy director, dentsu. “MiQ is a key partner to offer cookieless testing for all performance campaigns, making it much more accessible. As we move into 2024, our partnership will deepen as we further customise MiQ’s cookieless capabilities to better target and measure our own proprietary audiences. We’re using the UK as one of our key launch markets to develop the blueprint ahead of global adoption of a cookieless future.”

“We’re encouraged by the industry’s continued efforts to test innovative solutions using the building blocks provided by the Privacy Sandbox,” said Hanne Tuomisto-Inch, director, Privacy Sandbox partnerships EMEA at Google. “As we enter 2024, we look forward to working with all parts of the industry as more companies shift towards privacy-centric advertising solutions.”

Alongside its measurement testing programmes, MiQ will focus on bolstering its cookieless targeting offering with further testing programmes as we look to reimagine cookieless retargeting for a privacy-first world. Additionally, Chrome’s Sandbox APIs aren’t the only solution that advertisers will need to adopt, which is why MiQ is also testing measurement solutions in Edge, Firefox, and Safari to further prepare agencies and brands for privacy updates next year and beyond.  

¹ This does not include retargeting