Verizon Media Offers Opt-Out of Targeted Ads Across Its Network
Verizon Media is partnering with the nonprofit Network Advertising Initiative, integrating its advertising ID with the NAI’s “Audience Matched Advertising Opt-Out” platform to allow users across the Verizon Media ecosystem to opt out of targeted ads.
The move shows that Verizon is taking a step forward to make sure that the users targeted with ads in its network actually want ads tailored to their interests and behavior.
More broadly, it is a sign of the privacy-oriented times: One by one, ad tech companies and publishers are embracing consent management solutions to make sure they stay on the right side of privacy regulations. That means ensuring that consumers have the right to opt out of data collection and targeted ads, as the California Consumer Privacy Act and other state and international data privacy laws mandate.
The move follows Verizon’s announcement of the Verizon Media Connect ID, its identity solution for a cookieless world.
Of course, Verizon brings to the ad tech game connections with a massive base of internet users due to its role as a publishing power player. The company claims 900 million “direct consumer relationships” through more than 30 owned and operated consumer brands, including Yahoo, AOL, and TechCrunch.
Increasingly, it seems that Verizon and its dual platform-ad tech peers are the future of digital advertising. In other words, with open web targeting becoming more difficult due to privacy changes, advertisers are going to need to turn to massive publishers who can offer media buyers targeting and measurement via first-party relationships.
That said, first-party relationships do not ensure consent. And that’s where Verizon Media’s partnership with the NAI and consent management company Osano comes in.
Verizon Media is only the fifth company to partner with the NAI. Osano allows Verizon to “propagate” consent signals, ensuring that user preferences registered with one entity determine ad tech protocols across networks.
