Three Monkeys and a Cookie

When we were kids someone probably shared with you the Japanese proverb The Tale of Three Monkeys. The three monkeys were used to illustrate the principles of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys but the proverb refers to people who deal with a problem by looking the other way, refusing to acknowledge it, or feigning ignorance.

The online advertising industry's version of The Tale of Three Monkeys reflects the consistent lack of reach, poor data integrity, and the privacy challenges that surround online behavioral targeting. Online display advertising today is largely dependent on behavioral targeting with cookies and the infrastructure: ad networks, DSPs, DMPs, and RTB exchanges all depend on tracking cookies. It should not be a surprise then that there is not a lot of interest in "seeing" the limitations or "hearing" about credible alternatives. The "speaking" in online display advertising is about protecting the infrastructure investment of a growing industry despite privacy concerns.

This is about to change.

With the shift to "audience targeting", advertisers and their agencies have started to ask harder questions. These questions are not just about click-through rates and inventory optimization algorithms, they are increasingly interested in how many unique users can be reached, who they are, and can it be validated that they are the right people. Of course these are the right questions from marketers, but these are tough questions for the likes of ad networks, DSPs and DMPs who deal in anonymous cookies.

When the dust settles for audience targeting the right approach for every stakeholder in the online advertising community will be to embrace answers to three core questions: am I reaching enough unique users, is the data I am paying for accurate, and are the targeting techniques I'm using privacy friendly.

Any truthful answer to those three questions would mean admitting that the math no longer works for many behavioral targeted campaigns. With only 30-40% active cookie coverage, mathematically it is very difficult to generate enough qualified leads for anything but a national campaign. In order to increase the size of the cookie pool and increase reach, the data used to infer intent based on an active cookie has to be fairly broad.

Semcasting has developed an alternative platform to behavioral targeting that is designed to directly address the challenges in today's market. IP Audience Zones was built using a patented genetic modeling process that segments the U.S. into neighborhood Zones of similar geo-demographic and socio-economic factors. There are over 5.2 million IP Zones in the U.S., creating an average of 77 times more granular targeting than any zip-code geo-targeting. Each zone represents a rich interaction of over 750 data variables, the same attributes used by most marketers in their CRM platforms to analyze customers.

Semcasting IP Audience Zones represents a breakthrough in the way that marketers can build and target their online campaigns so that they meet the unique user reach requirements, data integrity is transparent and available, and user privacy is never in question. Online campaigns can now be planned and executed using the same metrics that are used to drive direct mail, email and television.

• Reach: Active cookies reach only 30 to 40% of online users at any given time due to opt-outs and cookies expiring. This is a systemic challenge to advertisers and the ad industry because it severely limits reach. IP Audience Zones transforms the 65% of the inventory with no cookie and turns it into targetable premium inventory – with nearly 100% Reach.

• Data Integrity: Inferring interests based only on a single online purchase or a site visit is the essence of "thin data". IP Zones addresses "thin data" with 1.45 million qualified demographic segments enhanced with 750 variable for ethnicity, affluence, life stage, political affinity and buyer groups, connecting web traffic with a full spectrum of data assets. The average U.S. zip-code contains 11,000+ people while the average Zone has 146, this makes IP Audience Zones 77 times more granular than zip-code geo-targeting. IP Audience Zones also offers 3.9 million IP addresses for business organizations available by NACIS, SIC, revenue, and number of employees.

• Privacy: IP Zones does not utilize any application of cookies or tracking pixels. An individual can never be linked to an IP address or targeted directly. IP Audience Zones triples the inventory providing near 100% audience coverage without using cookies and is validated & supported by IAB, DMA and TRUSTe.

Contact Us

If you'd like more information about the solutions introduced in this newsletter, or would like to discuss planning for your next marketing campaign, please do not hesitate to contact us at marketing@semcasting.com.