Researchers Find that Cookies Increase Ad Revenue for Online Publishers
Key Takeaways:
CATONSVILLE, MD, January 14, 2020 – How long has it been since you logged onto a Web site and you were prompted to decide whether to opt out of “cookies” that the site told you will enhance your online experience? Minutes? Hours?
While you may be familiar with the term, you may not completely know what a cookie is or what it does. A computer “cookie,” also known as a web cookie, Internet cookie or browser cookie, represents data packets that are sent to your computer to help a website track your visits and activity. As a result, the site is better able to track items in your shopping cart when browsing an ecommerce site, or personalize your user experience on the website so that you are more likely to see content and ads you want to see.
New research has explored the real value of the cookie to websites, advertisers, and found that cookies represent higher revenue to online publishers. According to the study, there is a 52 percent reduction in advertising revenue to publishers when cookies are eliminated through Internet user opt-out protocols. On the other hand, when cookies are present, publishers’ ad pricing doubles.
The study, to be published in the January edition of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, is titled “Consumer Privacy Choice in Online Advertising: Who opts out and at what cost to industry?” It is authored by Garrett Johnson of Questrom School of Business at Boston University; Scott Shriver of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado; and Shaoyin Du of the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.
According to the study authors, while most Americans decide not to opt-out of online advertising, 0.23 percent of American online ad impressions arise from users who decide to opt out of online ads. These users, in effect, have opted out of the use of cookies to track their online navigation of a particular site. This group was the focus of the study’s research to determine the impact of cookie removal on publishers.
In 2010, the American advertising industry decided to self-regulate by implementing its AdChoices program. This is where consumers are given the option to opt out of online advertising based on users’ behavior, simply by clicking the overlaid “AdChoice” icons on ads.
“In addition to finding that only a small percentage of Americans actually decided to opt out of online ads, one of our more important findings was that opt-out user ads tend to fetch 52 percent less revenue on the transaction than do comparable ads for users who allow behavior targeting, or opt in,” said Johnson.
The study authors calculate that the inability to behaviorally target opt-out users results in a loss of roughly $8.58 in ad spending per American opt-out consumer. This cost is covered by publishers and the AdChoices exchange.
For context, while the American advertising industry maintains an opt-out system, European regulators favor an opt-in policy through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which requires users to provide consent before they see an ad targeting them.
“This study provides the first evidence of the adoption rate of AdChoice, which is 0.23 percent of American impressions,” said Shriver. “More specifically, we were able to uncover a privacy paradox. Consumers’ stated preferences overstate actual preference measures they take to assure their privacy. Multiple surveys show that about two-thirds of American consumers oppose online behavioral advertising, and 20 percent even claim to have opted out using AdChoices. Still, actual opt-out rates are much lower.”
“Though few users tend to opt out, we note that certain types of users are more likely to opt out, and that has certain consequences for the advertising industry,” said Du. “We find that opt-out rates are higher among users who install non-default browsers, such as Firefox and Chrome, which tells us that opt-out users are likely more technologically sophisticated. We also note substantial variation in opt-out rates by region by city and state and by certain demographics.”
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News | For Immediate Release
January 20, 2020
For more information, contact:
Jonathan Kano, Freedom Preparatory Academy
jkano@freedomprep.net | (801) 857-0576
Charter School Students and Families to Attend School Choice Assembly
Assembly to feature student and administrative speakers
PROVO (Jan. 20, 2020) – Freedom Preparatory Academy will bring students, teachers, and families together to reflect on educational opportunities and celebrate schools of choice at an organization-wide assembly on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The upbeat assembly will feature student and administrative speakers, as well as a student dance performance.
Speakers will include Lucie Schoonmaker, 11th grade student and vice-president of Freedom Preparatory Academy’s Student Association; Temoc Ortega, 12th grade student and member of Latinos in Action; Lynne Herring, Executive Director of the Freedom Preparatory Academy Organization; and Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi.
More than 800 students and community members are expected to attend the assembly, which will take place 10-10:45 a.m. at Freedom Preparatory Academy’s Provo Elementary Campus, located at 1190 W. 900 North.
This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2020, which will feature more than 50,000 school choice events across all 50 states.
“We are excited to celebrate National School Choice Week with other schools across the nation,” said Jonathan Kano, Dean of Students at Freedom Preparatory Academy. “We encourage parents in our community to tour our schools, research our curriculum, and consider becoming part of the Freedom Family.”
This event is being organized by Freedom Preparatory Academy, which opened its doors in September 2003 to help children succeed in school and life. Now, with nearly two decades of parent satisfaction and student achievement, thousands of students have flourished in their pursuit of excellence in the classroom and effectiveness in meeting life’s challenges and opportunities. Freedom Preparatory Academy serves grades K-12 with two elementary campuses and a secondary school in Utah Valley.
For more information, contact Jonathan Kano at jkano@freedomprep.net or (801) 857-0576.
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As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country. From January 26 through February 1, 2020, more than 50,000 independently-planned events will be held in celebration of the Week. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com/utah.
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CONTACT
Jesse Prentice-Dunn, Policy Director
Center for Western Priorities
jesse@westernpriorities.org
720-204-1886
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2020
DENVER—Just last week, the Trump administration proposed major changes to how federal agencies would implement the National Environmental Policy Act, seeking to exempt major infrastructure projects from environmental reviews and curtailing opportunities for the public to provide input. The plan follows a series of efforts by the Interior Department to systematically suppress public participation while advancing the administration's anti-environment agenda. This includes undermining transparency laws, eliminating public comment periods, suspending public advisory committees, and creating loopholes to circumvent environmental reviews.
The Center for Western Priorities released a new analysis of millions of public comments submitted to the Interior Department during the rulemaking process for 10 major policy proposals under the Trump administration.
For each proposed policy change, more than 95 percent of public comments opposed the policy. Nevertheless, the Interior Department ultimately moved forward with the rule changes opposed by the vast majority of public submissions for 8 of the 10 rulemakings. In almost every instance where extractive industries expressed general support for a policy rollback, the Interior Department moved forward with rules broadly opposed by the public. Just two proposed rules were ultimately dropped or altered significantly upon final release.
The full analysis and results can be viewed here.
“This analysis reveals just how strongly the public is opposed to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s drilling and mining agenda. All too often, the Trump administration ignores the public to roll back key policies,” said Center for Western Priorities Media and Data Manager Andre Miller, who conducted the analysis. “The laws that bring local communities to the table for discussions on land management are being undermined while loopholes are being opened up for the fossil fuel industry.”
The analysis also includes a review of actions taken by the Trump administration’s Interior Department to limit public participation and input in the land management process in an effort to greenlight drilling and mining on public lands.
Methodology:
The Center for Western Priorities assessed public sentiment of public comments in instances where more than 500 comments were posted in a proposed rule docket on Regulations.gov and Interior Department agencies subsequently released a final rule or policy. A total of 10 rulemakings met these criteria and were included in the analysis. CWP downloaded the full text of all available comments (code). A random sample of comments (n=400) for each rulemaking was analyzed. Each comment was then individually coded as “for,” “against,” or “neutral” based on the sentiment expressed towards the proposed rule. Comments that were unrelated to the rulemaking were removed from the sample. Detailed results of the public comment sentiment analysis can be viewed here.
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Jesse Prentice-Dunn at 720-204-1886 or jesse@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.
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With Martin Luther King Jr. Day around the corner and 58 percent of Americans saying race relations are “generally bad,” the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020's States with the Most Racial Progress as well as accompanying videos.
To measure America’s progress in harmonizing racial groups, WalletHub measured the gaps between blacks and whites across 21 key indicators of equality and integration in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data set ranges from median annual income to standardized-test scores to voter turnout.
This report examines the differences between only blacks and whites in light of the high-profile police-brutality incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. We released this report to coincide with the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and discrimination against blacks.
Most Racially Integrated States
States with the Most Racial Progress
1. New Mexico
1. Wyoming
2. Hawaii
2. Texas
3. Wyoming
3. Mississippi
4. Texas
4. Georgia
5. West Virginia
5. New Jersey
6. Arizona
6. New Mexico
7. Kentucky
7. Florida
8. Montana
8. North Carolina
9. Maryland
9. South Carolina
10. Colorado
10. Idaho
Key Stats
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-most-and-least-racial-progress/18428/
