Decoding Google Privacy Sandbox webinar: Must-knows for next-gen mobile marketing

Today, many marketers are rushing to understand Google’s Privacy Sandbox for web as its APIs became available to most Chrome users at the beginning of September. In light of this, Adjust and Google recently held the webinar: Decoding Google Privacy Sandbox: Must-knows for next-gen mobile marketing, as Privacy Sandbox on Android is also right around the corner. Moderated by Google’s Business Development Manager, Strategic Partnerships for Android, Kelly Gieschen, and Adjust’s Director of Connected TV & New Channels, Gijsbert Pols, this insightful webinar delved into the strategies marketers need to employ to thrive in the new privacy era of digital marketing.

Want to see the webinar? No problem; you can watch the recording below or catch our top highlights by scrolling further.

Online privacy and the tracking of users’ online activity continue to be points of concern in the industry. Users—and lawmakers—are becoming more vocal about the need for transparency around how personal data is used and stored. The way advertising has worked in the past is no longer viable for today’s users, who demand that advertising be safer and more transparent. This can be evidenced by legislation like the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Acts in the EU, with many other regions likely to also push for greater regulation in tech and online consumer privacy.

For a sustainable future, businesses must adapt to these privacy changes and anticipate a marketing world with additional user privacy measures in the near future. And more specifically, for app developers and marketers desiring to continue advertising and measuring performance on Android, this is where Google’s Privacy Sandbox on Android comes into play.

According to Kelly, “With Privacy Sandbox, we’re envisioning technology where privacy takes precedence while businesses can still thrive and be successful.” To design Privacy Sandbox, Google has allotted time in the development timeline for ecosystem feedback to ensure that its solutions cater to the needs of advertisers and developers. In February of this year, it had a gradual beta rollout to Android 13 devices.

Google has partnered with major measurement partners in the industry, including Adjust as an early tester, to get critical feedback to help shape the Privacy Sandbox roadmap and designs. Moving forward, the tech giant also desires feedback from developers and encourages them to provide input on its privacy-forward solutions.

Kelly went on to share that Attribution Reporting API proposals for Privacy Sandbox on Android are designed to work without any cross-app identifiers, meaning deterministic signals about specific users’ behavior will no longer be available. The industry no longer needs to rely on individual user data for successful attribution with Privacy Sandbox.

Three notes for marketers on attribution with Privacy Sandbox on Android:

1. You’ll need to define ahead of a campaign launch the metrics you wish to focus on.
2. The Attribution Reporting API will provide and send reports with privacy protections like noising, structural limits, and delays.
3. Attribution reporting is currently ramped to 90% on Android 13 devices.

As demonstrated by the industry changes following the rollout of iOS 14.5, privacy-oriented attribution and measurement solutions were swiftly and smartly developed to accommodate and adhere to the requirements of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and solve for the nuances of aggregated SKAdNetwork data.

While complex, this is the necessary direction the advertising industry must go, and is in fact, an opportunity for greater, privacy-oriented innovation.

App developers and marketers should start engaging now with Privacy Sandbox along with their mobile measurement partners to figure out what use cases they need and ensure it provides that.