Quantcast Debuts New Tool To Help Publishers In A World Without Cookies

Quantcast has today announced the launch of Permisio, an easy-to-use centralised privacy preferences portal that simplifies privacy preference management for publishers and improves the online browsing experience for consumers.

Permisio is an expansion of Quantcast Choice, a consent management platform (CMP), that combines transparency for consumers over how their data is processed and the ability to express preferences  with authenticated identity for publishers. The result is fewer privacy pop-ups for consumers while they continue to support the publishers and content they love.

Early adopters of Permisio span the US and UK, including Immediate Media, the publisher behind many of the BBC’s top websites, Snack Media, a leading independent sports digital media company with over 42 million sports fans and 600 million cross platform views, and Jungle Creations, a media company with a global audience of 85 million.

Quantcast APAC managing director Andrew Double [feature image] said: “Data protection legislation has already arrived and will continue to expand in the Asia Pacific region. It is important for publishers to act now to both improve the consumer experience on their sites and to make advertising more relevant to their audiences.

“The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation already impacts many consumers accessing content on global sites. When a consumer’s visit to a site is subject to the GDPR, they should be greeted with a privacy pop up that asks them to accept cookies and the processing of their personal data for advertising. A requirement that has drastically changed users’ online experience over the past couple of years.

“In just a few clicks, Permisio enables consumers to decide their preferred data protection settings once for each website so they have to navigate fewer consent pop ups. In turn publishers can better understand and therefore monetise their audiences, respect their rights decisions, and comply with data protection legislation.

“Within the next few years, we predict, consumers will have to start opting in to the processing of their personal data for use in advertising that enables them to access content on the open internet. Consumers in our region are already accessing content in markets such as the UK where publishers are required to obtain consumers consent and Asia Pacific publishers already have a lot of overseas users  whose consent is required before their data may be processed.

“In addition, several APAC markets have their own laws under which consent may be required to process users’ personal data for advertising. Lastly, we’re seeing internet gatekeepers take more and more aggressive steps to prevent the collection and use of their users’ data by publishers and marketers without their knowledge and consent.

“Marketers and publishers in APAC need to act now to ensure they have a clear strategy for optimum audience growth and brand engagement in the medium to long term.”

Quantcast co-founder and CEO Konrad Feldman said: “In order to thrive long in the future, the online advertising and publishing ecosystem needs an alternative to third-party cookies that puts the consumer at its centre. Permisio has been developed with privacy top of mind and builds on our expertise in operating the world’s most popular consent management platform, Quantcast Choice. Permisio creates a more seamless browsing experience for consumers while making it easier for them to clearly understand and signal how they want their data to be used. At the same time, publishers can continue to understand their audiences and fund their content.”

Dominic Perkins, Digital Advertising Strategy Director at Immediate Media, publisher of more than 75 consumer titles, including BBC Food, Top Gear and Lonely Planet Magazine, said: “Quantcast Choice has allowed us to easily improve the user experience of consent across more than 50 of our sites. The launch of Permisio takes this a step further and gives us an opportunity to build trusted relationships directly with our readers. Trust and transparency are important to our business and will be a critical factor in building our first-party data capabilities.”

Future-proofing publisher business models for a post-cookie world

As the online advertising ecosystem prepares for a world without cookies, Permisio enables publishers of all sizes to better optimise the online consumer experience while freeing them to focus on the growth of their most valuable asset: their first-party data.

The introduction of Permisio is part of Quantcast’s broader initiative to develop an alternative to third party cookies by creating a long-lasting identity solution for the free and open internet and a more transparent and consent-driven advertising landscape.

Permisio is available from today for free to all publishers using Quantcast Choice with UK traffic and will be available for Asia Pacific publishers from early next year.

Quantcast has worked hand-in-hand with the IAB US and the IAB Europe to shape compliance frameworks for both CCPA and GDPR and is a member of the IAB’s Privacy and Rearc Commit Group. Quantcast executives also sit on the board of the IAB, IAB Tech Lab and multiple regional IAB organisations, including the IAB Singapore and India.