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Privacy Sandbox

Dig into the
Google Privacy Sandbox

The Privacy Sandbox is a set of APIs designed to safeguard key addressability functionality on Chrome without third-party cookies. With 63% of the world’s browser traffic coming from Chrome, the Privacy Sandbox is a key pillar of our addressability strategy.

Thinking inside the sandbox

As one of Google’s first (and largest) testing partners, our platform is already integrated with the Privacy Sandbox and scaled testing is well underway. Our work has focused on three primary APIs: Topics, Protected Audiences and Attribution Reporting.

Google Topics

To unlock expansive scale for their campaigns, brands and advertisers need to understand users’ interests without relying on site-to-site tracking. By assigning users to interest groups within the browser itself, the Topics API enables interest-based advertising at scale.

Protected Audience

Building a granular custom audience for targeting has been a mainstay for advertisers for years—but it’s historically relied on third party cookies. In the cookieless age, the Protected Audience API aims to replicate this functionality without exposing an individual’s browsing habits. It also enables secure on-device ad auctions to activate these audiences.

Attribution Reporting

Measurement has always been an essential component of running effective digital advertising campaigns. The Attribution Reporting API with Privacy Sandbox enables advertisers to measure conversions in a privacy-safe way.

How it works

Our approach to testing

Developing a methodology for testing the Google Privacy Sandbox is no small feat. That’s why we’ve dedicated a huge team of product and R&D specialists, over multiple years, to getting it right.

A methodology for everyone

Because Criteo works across both sides of the advertising ecosystem—from demand to supply—it’s essential that our testing framework serves everyone’s interest.

Watch this space

Our full-scale testing began after the deprecation of 1% of Chrome’s third-party cookie traffic in January 2024. Once complete, we’ll share our results with the Competition and Markets Authority.

After Q2 2024, the CMA will make a final ruling about the viability of Privacy Sandbox and its ability to bring the required targetable and measurable advertising to Chrome. We’ll keep you updated on the Criteo Addressability Hub.

ROAS and CPM: Our North Star metrics

Our advertisers rely on constant ROAS. Our publishers depend on healthy CPMs. These priorities are why we’ve focused Privacy Sandbox testing on assessing the impact of the core APIs on these metrics.

Get the full picture of what it takes to test Google's Privacy Sandbox in our deep-dive article.

"We have a duty to our clients, partners and the wider industry to ensure the economics of advertising continue to work for everyone."
Todd Parsons |Chief Product Officer, Criteo

Criteo's Privacy Sandbox
testing timeline

In preparation for the CMA’s decision about Privacy Sandbox, we’ll be running, monitoring, and iterating on our testing to deliver the most accurate data for evaluation. Here’s what the first half of 2024 looks like for our team.

January 4 - March 11

1% Cookie Deprecation

On January 4th, Google deprecated third-party cookies in Chrome for 1% of traffic in preparation for market testing.

Iteration Period

Criteo runs tests while continuing to check setup, monitor population recruitment and iterate accordingly.

March 11 - June 15

Locked Testing

Format industry testing period begins, dedicated to collecting final data for CMA evaluation.

Analyze & Deliver Results

Multi-step review, analysis and compilation of results for the final report to the CMA, which will be delivered by June 15.

Dig deeper on addressability

Want to learn more about life beyond the cookie? Get a grasp of the fundamentals with our dedicated resources.

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