Month: January 2023

Google’s Privacy Sandbox efforts — aimed at finding a “replacement” for the ubiquitous ad targeting tool inside Google Chrome — have come under much criticism. Although, even Google’s most ardent critics will concede that Apple’s approach to ushering in a more privacy-centric era has been much more traumatic.

In fact, those forming Apple’s privacy policies were reportedly labeled “political opportunists” with a mission to “cripple the advertising industry…” by IAB CEO David Cohen this week at the trade organization’s flagship annual gathering.

Although, not all are in complete agreement with such confrontational language.

In the latest edition of our Confessions series, in which we exchange anonymity for candor, a leading media executive shares thoughts on such hot-button issues.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Just what to do people in the industry think about Apple?

Some publicly talk about Apple as the enemy within, but I think the challenge there is that, and a lot of people say this, ‘As an Apple user, I love what they’re doing…’

I mean, by far they’ve been the best when it comes to building up trust and confidence with their user base when it comes to taking data privacy seriously. The irony is that, if other parts of the industry would have taken privacy more seriously over the years, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.

So, labeling them as the enemy may be a step too far, but I think everybody would love to have their thinking and involvement but I remain skeptical as to whether that happens or not.

A lot of people talk about such platforms as the defacto global regulators given their scale, what are your thoughts?

Trying to come up with a single data protection and identity solution that works across the U.S., and ideally across the globe, is no easy feat, that’s going to require a lot of deep thinking.

Keeping up with it is difficult, as each time you turn around there’s another state or country that passes a piece of legislation, and none of them really match.

The question the industry is trying to answer is how to find a balance between something that is broad enough, and specific enough, that can also anticipate what may happen in the future.

A lot is being made about how Apple may challenge those currently leading the industry, what are your thoughts?

There is a definite sense that the gravy train is over for the duopoly of Facebook and Google, I can tell you that much. But, y’know, these are big companies and they’re not going to disappear overnight, you’d be foolish to believe that.

Although, I’d say their ability to hire anyone at a whim is probably over. Right now there’s a lot of discussion about how things such as Microsoft’s investment in things like ChatGPT may be a real threat to the search business.

Then, with things like TikTok threatening YouTube and taking up more of the social media side of things, I think you’re going to start to see the duopoly take a long hard look at their business models in the year(s) ahead.

With that said, it’s never a good look for any platform when the feature that supposedly makes it special is called into question.

“On its own, the revelation [of TikTok’s heating feature] isn’t likely to cause much upheaval, but it certainly isn’t great optics,” said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at eMarketer. “It’s also the first in a series of dominoes that will fall for TikTok this year, as the app will likely have to make some major concessions to appease U.S. regulators.”

But the idea that even a small number of TikTok employees can manually push content to users suggests there’s more going on behind closed doors — and it feels somewhat murky.

Jamie MacEwan, senior media analyst at Enders, explained that TikTok execs’ use of heating (which is boosting videos into users’ “For You” pages to achieve a more ideal number of views), confirms the TikTok team’s awareness of some of the drawbacks of having a very aggressive personalization engine — its lauded special algorithm — and so this is a way for them to account for those drawbacks in some way.

“The heating feature highlights that it’s not as perfect a system as ‘good content will always win,’ but I don’t think many marketers are naïve enough to believe that money wouldn’t play a part eventually,” added Matt Moorut, director analyst at the Gartner for Marketing Leaders practice.

After all, it was always expected that TikTok would give its closest partners the opportunity for a leg-up, such as by giving previews of upcoming products or, in this case, boosting videos, noted MacEwan.

And in the grand scheme of things, this heating tool is still only a small part of total views on the app (though specific numbers have yet to be confirmed), so it’s unlikely to impact marketers’ organic content.

But with a snafu like this coming to light, the credibility behind TikTok’s algorithm doesn’t feel as solid as it once was. Talk of banning the app from political circles, on university campuses and potentially entire countries only fuels those underlying concerns.

In fact, regulation is the real existential threat for TikTok, more so than this viral pushing by staff,  according to MacEwan. As such, this news is unlikely to create any new TikTok skeptics among lawmakers or convince them TikTok has crossed a line in any way.

“Of course, that could change if it turned out TikTok staff had been promoting problematic content or upholding editorial lines relayed by managers in Beijing, which might involve heating or other tools,” he added. 

From the outset, it appears marketers have had a higher level of skepticism for TikTok than other social platforms. But according to Moorut, that’s largely because the app can supposedly provide incredible viewership but still hasn’t managed to build analytics to truly trace that through to conversions in the same ways as other platforms.

Yet despite those flaws, which have yet to be ironed out, TikTok will likely see this latest issue as nothing more than a bump on the road to greater monetization opportunities. But as a scaling short-form video app, it still has a long way to go until the platform works for regulators, policy makers, brands, creators and consumers. 

“Until there’s a radical shift in the regulatory environment or a truly massive scandal, I don’t see the compounding dissatisfaction affecting the fact that this will be an important channel for both brands and creators,” Moorut said.