Consumers are becoming more proactive about protecting their privacy, using tools like VPNs, privacy-focused browsers, and Apple’s Private Relay.
In the U.S., 40% of the population reportedly uses VPNs, and many are increasingly opting out of cookies, blocking third-party tracking, and employing anonymization features in their browsers. When it comes to ad blockers, a growing number of users (31%) use them. This behavior reflects a groundswell of consumer demand for privacy and control over how personal data is collected and used.
This growing awareness has been shaped in part by a series of high-profile scandals, and increased media coverage of privacy issues. As more users take these steps to safeguard their privacy, they expect businesses to follow suit by handling data responsibly.
Signal deprecation and privacy are not the same thing
In responding to this imperative, big tech companies have caused a great deal of confusion. Many recent “privacy-safe” advertising solutions are really just short-term fixes for the problem of signal deprecation, such as the loss of third-party cookies or mobile ad IDs (MAIDs). Signal deprecation—often initiated by big tech companies in the name of privacy—differs from privacy laws.
The decision to deprecate cookies or MAIDs mostly stems from corporate strategies aimed at consolidating data control rather than purely complying with regulations. This has led to many in the industry looking to solve for signal deprecation without addressing the broader shift in the regulatory environment or the change in consumer sentiment that inspires it.
The privacy misconception around CTV
CTV is often considered privacy-safe because it doesn’t rely on cookies for targeting. But cookieless doesn’t automatically mean privacy-first. CTV targeting relies heavily on tracking IP addresses, which brings its own privacy challenges. While IP addresses don’t necessarily identify individuals, they can identify households—and new regulations increasingly classify IP addresses as personal data.
States like California and Virginia now designate IP addresses as personally identifiable information (PII), requiring stricter regulations under laws like the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA). Because CTV depends on household-level data, its privacy compliance is facing more scrutiny.
While CTV doesn’t use cookies, it remains vulnerable to future disruption if privacy laws further restrict IP address tracking. This issue isn’t limited to CTV; any advertising channel that relies on tracking individuals or households could be disrupted as privacy protections continue to tighten.
The case for contextual
The long-term solution to these privacy challenges is contextual targeting. Instead of tracking a user’s behavior over time, contextual targeting focuses on the content being consumed at that moment. This approach is inherently privacy-friendly, as it doesn’t require personal data or behavioral insights. Advertisers can deliver relevant ads by analyzing the context of the media a user is engaging with, ensuring alignment with their current interests—without needing their personal history.
Some may argue that permissioned, opted-in consented data offers a future-proofed alternative for deterministic targeting, but there simply isn’t enough scale in this data to serve as the foundation for global targeted media exchange.
Contextual targeting, by contrast, allows advertisers to reach users in real time based on their current environment, bypassing the need for personal data entirely. And yes, for this reason, contextual is also much less susceptible to future signal deprecation.
The future of privacy-first adtech
The path forward for adtech is clear: Privacy must be prioritized while continuing to deliver effective, targeted ads. This doesn’t mean eliminating behavioral targeting altogether, but it does require rethinking how things are going to work long-term. The shift away from individual tracking isn’t just a trend—it’s a secular transformation that will reshape digital advertising for years to come.
Consumers are increasingly aware of the value exchange between their data and the content they consume. Many feel the benefits of personalized ads don’t always justify the privacy risks. Contextual targeting strikes the right balance—delivering relevant ads while protecting user privacy and meeting the needs of both advertisers and consumers.
By Brian Danzis, President North America at Seedtag.Interested to know more about us?
This article was originally released on AdWeek.
