The Guardian newspaper has penned a new blog and open letter to the the ad industry after it updated the first layer of its consent banner, simplifying cookie rejection for readers.
Users of the historic paper’s website can now ‘reject all’ cookies as easily as they can ‘accept all’ by simply clicking ‘no, thank you’, providing upfront clarity about how their data is used.
In recent blog published on its site, The Guardian makes clear that while customers may wish to preserve their privacy, opting in to cookies can actually help fund the free, unbiased journalism that the paper provides – accounting for a quarter of its total revenue.
As part of the industry’s transition into a post-cookie landscape, The Guardian will hope that its strategy of unflinching openness with its readers will help them understand the vital importance of advertising to fee journalism, emphasised in chief advertising officer Imogen Fox’s blog and open letter.
In response to readers’ privacy concerns, The Guardian has introduced ‘Guardian Light’, which deliver ads to readers without using third party or first party cookies, tracking or auction technology.
This ‘cookieless solution’ places advertising alongside ultra-relevant content, such as an ad for a food brand alongside its recipes section, thus allowing ads to be brought to readers even if they’ve selected ‘reject all’.
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In her open letter, Fox reveals that a range of brands including online bank Monzo, have already used Guardian Light to great effect – significantly improved viewability scores (as high as 90%) and click-through rates.
By taking what it believes to be a responsible approach to advertising, such as banning ads from fossil fuel and gambling businesses across its portfolio, The Guardian hopes to build the public’s trust in advertising and make its readers more likely to accept tracking.
“Making ‘reject all’ easier means more people are likely to reject all cookies. More people rejecting all cookies, means less people for advertisers to advertise to. That seems counterintuitive doesn’t it?”, Fox writes.
“At the Guardian we want our online advertising to work as hard as it can for our advertising partners as well as our readers. This means using legally consented personal data to match audiences with products and services.
She continues: “Advertising is extremely important to the Guardian. It helps fund our unique and vital journalism. Responsible advertising stretches beyond the brands that we work with, it also applies behind the scenes too.
“We think we have taken a massive step forward with this change and we hope others will join us.”
