"With the gradual phase-out of Google's third-party cookies scheduled for the end of 2025, it becomes essential for brands to explore and adopt alternative measurement solutions that do not rely on cookies before reaching this deadline." Simon Paris - Digital Supervisor, Performance.

Google recently announced significant changes regarding reporting features in Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) and Display & Video (DV360), Google's two proprietary platforms for ad management. These modifications will lead to the disappearance of several crucial attribution metrics, necessitating adaptation for advertisers. Here's an overview of what will change and the impact it will have on measuring your campaigns.

Disappearance of cross-environment metrics

Cross-environment metrics are essential for tracking conversions across different devices and environments. They allow advertisers to understand user journeys across various touchpoints, even if they switch devices after interacting with an ad. Unfortunately, all metrics related to the multi-device environment will no longer be available, including key indicators such as total conversions, revenue, conversions per click and view, with reference to the multi-device environment.

Depreciation of attribution reports

In addition to the removal of cross-environment metrics, Google also announced the disappearance of several important attribution reports. This includes reports such as assisted conversions, first-touch attribution, top conversion paths, attribution delay, and path length. These reports provide crucial insights into user behavior and the effectiveness of advertising placements.

Why does this matter?

These changes come at a time when the advertising industry is facing diminishing reliability of cookie-based data. Cookies, which have long been used to track user behavior online, are becoming less effective due to increasing restrictions related to data privacy. This makes traditional attribution metrics less reliable and forces advertisers to rethink their advertising performance measurement strategies.

In light of these changes, it is essential for advertisers to prepare accordingly. This may involve exploring alternative advertising performance measurement solutions, such as using proprietary data or implementing attribution models based on non-cookie-related methods. Advertisers must also stay informed about future developments in this field and be ready to quickly adapt to changes in the digital landscape.