A LITTLE UPDATE

Newsletter #40

Privacy, AI and the open web are all in the firing line.

Australia’s proposed dual-track privacy regime could let businesses pick between stricter consent rules or an outcomes-based “safe harbour”, but either way, compliance expectations are climbing. Our latest analysis unpacks what this means for advertisers, AI players and agencies, and why pixel audits, clean-room governance and data fidelity are now making their way onto board agendas.

Meanwhile, Cloudflare’s bid to build an “App Store for the web” could be a turning point in how online access is controlled. Its AI crawler toll is a win for publishers, but raises new questions about who decides the rules of entry. Also trending: YouTube’s inclusion in Australia’s under-16 social media laws, lessons from Qantas’ privacy breach, and the real forces powering retail media growth.


SPOTLIGHT

It’s not business as usual: AI, consent, and the future of privacy in Australia

Australia’s proposed dual-track privacy regime will raise compliance stakes for advertisers and AI players.

Cloudflare is building an App Store for the web. That’s a bit scary, isn’t it?

Cloudflare’s AI crawler toll is good for publishers, but it may signal a new kind of internet gatekeeping.


FROM OUR BLOG

YouTube is now under-16 restricted. Advertisers, it’s time to rethink your strategy

YouTube is now included in Australia’s under-16 social media laws. Here’s what advertisers need to know.

What the Qantas data breach teaches us about privacy culture

Qantas got breached. Find out why a strong privacy culture is essential for every business.

Retail media is growing. But not for the reasons you think.

Big players are scaling, small players are struggling. Here’s what needs to change.

Clean pipes, high performance: Why media quality is the next sustainability lever

Media quality isn’t just a performance play, it’s now a key lever in reducing emissions and ad waste.


INDUSTRY NEWS

Landmark court case is a win for consumers

The federal court has ruled against tech giants Apple and Google in a major win for consumers, finding that the companies engaged in anti-competitive conduct.

Subscription TV is one-third of the Australian broadcast industry

More than a million hours of subscription television content was distributed in FY24, up 31% from 2022.

Trade Desk shares crushed despite revenue jump

The adtech giant’s shares plunged nearly 40% despite a 19% jump in revenue, as investors grew uneasy over rising competition and market uncertainty.

Google discloses data breach via Salesforce hack

Google revealed that one of its corporate Salesforce instances was targeted by threat actors. The attack appears to be part of a campaign that has hit several major companies.

AIC takes civil penalty action against Optus

The Australian Information Commissioner (AIC) has filed civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Optus following an investigation in relation to the data breach made public by Optus on 22 September 2022.

How will Australia’s under-16s social media ban be enforced

Australians using a range of social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and X will need to have their age checked to ensure they are 16 or older when the social media ban comes into effect from early December.

YouTube’s ad take is pumping

YouTube last week officially ousted the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster ITV as the video platform now second only to the BBC in audience size, according to the tech and media regulator, Ofcom.

Call for AI compensation fund in copyright fight

The Copyright Agency has called for a government-mandated scheme to compensate Australian creators for the predations of AI companies overseas.

TikTok to follow users beyond the app

TikTok is rolling out a new advertising tool to measure user behaviour after they leave the app without using pixel technology. The new tool, called Engaged Session, will allow advertisers to target users who spend at least 10 seconds on a website or retailer landing page after clicking an ad.

Privacy regulator sick of being ignored

The Privacy Commissioner and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner [OAIC] officially identified the sectors and practices they will actively police and prosecute in the next 12 months: brands and their supply chain of providers – from agencies to data houses, media companies, CX vendors and critically, data sharing practices – are at the top of the hunting list.


PLATFORM NEWS

Conversion Categories for DV360 and CM360

Conversion Category is being introduced to conversion events in CM360 and DV360. This update will allow users to set and edit Category for Floodlight activities within these platforms, enabling better organisation and management.

Tracking tag misuse diagnostic in CM360

CM360 is launching a new diagnostic alert that will notify users if they’ve incorrectly implemented their tracking tags which can lead to billing discrepancies. This will initially aim to identify when users have implemented click trackers where they intended implement impression trackers and notify users of the issues. This feature will be available in the Diagnostics tab in the trafficking UI once launched (both account and advertiser level).

Unlock more visibility and control in PMax

More visibility and control in your Performance Max campaigns, including the launch of the highly anticipated channel performance report beta.

“Branded searches” a new conversion type

Measure how well campaigns drive consideration for brand among potential and existing customers. Available for Video, Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns on YouTube, Discover, and Gmail inventory.

Google Analytics MCP server

The Google Analytics Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets you connect your Analytics data to an LLM, like Gemini. You can use the MCP server to chat with your data, build custom agents with access to your data, and more.

Default reports and suggested audiences for lead gen

Google has introduced multiple features for businesses focusing on generating leads. The new features include:

  • Five new lead events that takes into account the quality of a lead
  • Eight new reports based on the generate_lead event and new lead events
  • Eight new audience templates based on the generate_lead event and new lead events

Note that while the new features allow for more insightful lead funnel reporting, extra work to import historical data or set up new custom events are required to maximise benefits.

Brand Rights Protection updates

Meta is expanding scam ad reporting to all Brand Rights Protection accounts, enabling businesses to report suspected scam ads at scale.

Microsoft Ads rolls out website exclusion tools for Search, Audience ads

Centrally manage website exclusions across accounts and campaigns, apply exclusions in bulk and add up to 10,000 websites per exclusion list.


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

If Google’s ad tech empire breaks up, what happens next?

What’s at stake for marketers if Google’s dominance over the ad market is dismantled? A lot.

Google Tag Gateway vs Server-Side GTM: What marketers and developers need to know

One simplifies tagging, the other unlocks full flexibility and control.