With the rise of the Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) across Europe, IAB Canada took to the “virtual stage” at their annual State of the Nation event to discuss the role of the CMP in ad tech in Canada. During a half-hour panel discussion, Quantcast’s Head of Privacy and Identity, Heinz Baumann, analysed the origin and purpose of the CMP, its importance in consumer choice, and how marketers can take next steps to promote privacy compliance. The event was facilitated by Jill Briggs (Policy & Regulatory Affairs, IAB Canada) and included additional IAB members Jan Winkler (CEO, Consent Manager) and Arshdeep Sood (Marketing Solutions Engineer, OneTrust).
“We have all seen those cookie banner ads asking us for user consent,” Jill said, as she kicked off the panel. Heinz explained how the initial idea for the Transparency and Consent Framework (TFC) and Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) was designed and developed at Quantcast after an IAB Europe meeting, where the attendees discussed upcoming privacy laws such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Quantcast Choice was built as an “open source project first and then was commercialized,” Heinz said. Quantcast’s main business for over 15 years has been advertising for the open internet, so Quantcast Choice is the perfect marriage between advertisers and publishers. The overall solution, Heinz said, is “a self-serve, customizable CMP that facilitates privacy compliance for marketers and publishers.”
When discussing the origins of privacy legislation, all three panel members agreed that there was a lot of hesitation and confusion when GDPR came into play back in 2017, which was largely due to a lack of understanding of the solutions that were available in the market. “The beginning was a lot of, let’s say, insecurity… people did not know what to do,” Jan said. Heinz agreed, adding that there was slow adoption in Europe, but once solutions like CMPs were introduced and the deadline for compliance approached, interest began to skyrocket.
With GDPR, consumers needed to make adjustments in order to feel comfortable with the opt-in process, which ultimately affected opt-in rates. “I have definitely seen things take a turn for the better over the years,” said Arshdeep. “We already see that people in the EU are more comfortable because they know there is a value exchange added to it.” With new legislation, there will always be a learning curve for consumers, Heinz explained. He pointed out that many consumers have developed a new “DNA” to quickly agree to / dismiss the cookie banner in order to get rid of it. Here are some of his key observations regarding these new opt-in / opt-out habits:
- The average opt-in rate is around 85%, although sometimes the opt-in rate is as high as 98%, depending on the page.
- Users who are more informed about the privacy laws are mostly between the ages of 45-65 and have higher opt-out rates.
- On sites that are targeted toward the younger generation, the opt-out rate remains very low.
It is believed that once legislation passes in Canada, the process will mimic that of Europe’s opt-in program. Heinz and Arshdeep offered three key recommendations to Canadian businesses who want to be better prepared once privacy legislation passes in Canada:
- Don’t panic. Canada has a very established data privacy market, and many CMPs follow widely adopted standards with the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF).
- Be proactive and familiarize yourself with the CMPs that are out there; don’t wait for the privacy legislation to pass first.
Define the project you will need to undertake in advance. Will you need a quick solution, or will you require a more complicated integration? By understanding your requirements ahead of time, you’ll be able to execute swiftly when the pieces all fall into place.
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To learn more about the Quantcast perspective on major trends and solutions for the cookieless future, check out In a World Without Third-Party Cookies, What Happens to Advertising on the Open Internet?