Innovid Launches Cookieless Solution to Increase Conversion Rate Accuracy

As marketers prepare for the loss of third-party cookies, digital advertising vendors are rolling out alternative solutions at a faster clip. The latest product release comes from Innovid, the independent advertising and analytics platform, which just announced a new cookieless cross-device product that can match multiple devices to user interactions, with the goal of increasing the accuracy of online conversion rates.

The solution is powered by Innovid’s identity framework, Innovid Key. Innovid Key enables marketers to maintain a transparent understanding of the actions their current, or potential, customers are taking across all devices without relying on invasive targeting techniques. 

According to Innovid, the new solution is built on the principle of interoperability across signals, rather than exclusivity.

What does that mean in real world terms? For starters, it means Innovid’s solution will be able to connect across privacy-compliant partners and sources to accurately map consumer behavior, without resorting to methods like browser fingerprinting.

“Traditional methods of tracking audience behavior leave actions isolated to the devices they originated in, providing an incomplete picture of the customer journey and the risk of losing valuable conversion traffic with only a partial view of campaign effectiveness,” explains Innovid  Chief Product Officer Dale Older. “This is especially prevalent with CTV, where most viewers are directed to second-screen experiences to convert.” 

With Innovid’s cross-device conversion reporting, Older says advertisers will be able to accurately gauge the impact and effectiveness of their CTV campaigns, while also attributing views directly to site activity to justify the growing investment of ad dollars. 

Google’s announcement in May that it would be disabling third-party cookies for 1% of users in the first quarter of 2024 has gotten marketers moving. Although there’s been talk about the end of cookies for years, it appears that the clock is finally ticking. 

In an interview on the AdExchanger Talks podcast, Google’s Senior Director of Product Management for Privacy Sandbox Victor Wong said advertisers shouldn’t expect any more deadline extensions. Slippery deadlines have made it difficult for marketers to make strategic investments to plan around, and as a result, Wong said Google is holding firm on its latest deadline.

Third-party cookies are small files that are created when a user visits a website that includes elements from other sites, such as third-party images or ads. They’re generated and placed on a user’s device by a different website than the one a user is visiting, often without the user realizing what’s happening. 

Advertisers have come to rely on cookies to track users across different websites and collect information about their browsing habits. The information is often used to target users with advertising that’s relevant to their interests. 

Although third-party cookies allow advertisers to reach a wider audience with their ads, and track the effectiveness of their campaigns, they come with downsides. Third-party cookies have been criticized for their privacy implications, particularly when they’re used to track users without their knowledge or consent. Information that’s gathered through this method can be sold to third-party companies or used to target consumers with advertising that’s irrelevant to their interests.

The loss of cookies—while largely seen as a win for consumers—will make it much harder for advertisers to track users across the web and serve them with targeted ads. That’s why so many firms, including Innovid, are rushing to release their own workarounds, so advertisers can collect information from consumers in more privacy-compliant ways.

Older says Innovid’s solution is different from competitors, in that the cross-device conversion reporting actually gives advertisers more strategic tools to make informed decisions based on the campaigns, channels, and creatives that actually drive success. Armed with these insights, he believes advertisers will be better able to optimize their marketing efforts, strategically allocate resources, and ultimately achieve better business outcomes.

“Marketers can match events that a household did across different devices in a cookieless, privacy-compliant manner,” Older says, “resulting in a more accurate conversion rate.”