Google’s DSP, Display & Video 360, plays a pivotal role in the programmatic advertising landscape. Like all Google advertising products as well as other ad platforms, it is preparing for the shift away from third-party cookies towards a privacy-centric future. This transition is reshaping how advertisers address audience signals and achieve their performance goals. Amélie Michelon, Head of Programmatic France, sheds light on the innovative solutions and seamless support offered by DV360, during challenges such as the phase-out of third-party cookies, the rise of CTV, and advancements in AI technology.

This interview has been edited and condensed. Comments collected on November 17, 2023.

For our latest AdLeaders interview, we found it insightful to seek input from  DV360 amid significant changes in the programmatic landscape. The adtech company is committed to enhancing its extensive array of advertising products with cutting-edge technologies.As one of the leading DSPs in the market, Google DV360 is observed and valued for the new features it develops and the innovations it pushes forward.

We asked Amélie Michelon her thoughts on all these topics. She leads the DV360 team at Google Paris, after joining the company 5 years ago as Head of Agency to accompany media agencies, especially the “Big 6” in their digital transformation: “Almost 3 years ago, I had the opportunity to lead the programmatic team. My mission is to increase the DV360 expertise among agencies.” An obvious choice, with her extensive experience in the industry, having worked in the digital advertising market for leading local and global companies such as Snap, and major challenges such as leading the digital trading team at Dentsu Aegis, one of Google’s main agencies in the french ecosystem. “These experiences, on both sides of the market, give me a better understanding of the needs of buyers on one hand and the commercial objectives of media owners on the other hand”.

Today, Amélie supports brands and agencies in the ever-evolving landscape of digital advertising, which faces more challenges than ever before. The first being to support advertisers and their agencies in their privacy journey. “We see the deprecation of 3rd party cookies in 2024 as a new land of opportunities. First and foremost , an opportunity to run better campaigns : more respectful for the user's privacy. Being able to remain efficient while taking care of the user's privacy is important to continue to support the Open Web and this is an exciting challenge for the industry.” explains Amélie.

"BEING ABLE TO REMAIN EFFICIENT WHILE TAKING CARE OF THE USER'S PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE OPEN WEB AND THIS IS AN EXCITING CHALLENGE FOR THE INDUSTRY."

To achieve this, Google advocates for cross-collaboration between Adtech providers, partners, agencies and advertisers and a strong ability to remain agile and curious: “2024 will give to the digital marketing ecosystem many opportunities to continue to test solutions that do not rely on 3PCD: deterministic and probabilistic solutions. the ability to build solid and sustainable solutions while enhancing and reinforcing l user privacy will make the difference.”

The second challenge is continued innovation on the media side, according to Amélie: “Delivering top-tier inventories to advertisers across diverse media types demands innovation, adaptability, and a keen understanding of each medium's nuances (DOOH, Audio, CTV). For example, to access audio inventory, we tailored our platform to seamlessly offer the finest audio inventories via multiple SSPs featuring various content types (streaming music, podcasts, text-to-speech).” The fundamental mission of a DSP platform such as DV360 is to give access to the largest type of inventories with the highest quality standards while giving access to the best tech solutions to drive performance. “To achieve this, our challenge is to anticipate the market needs and always keep a long term approach to drive more business results for advertisers.” adds Amélie.

Innovation is at the heart of DV360’s strategy, all the latest innovations being deeply linked to the business needs of their customers and to the evolution of the whole ecosystem. “AI-driven efficiency is key for agencies, and DV360, powered by Google's AI and privacy-first foundation, offers customizable performance and operational efficiency. With features like automated bid predictions and AI assistance for audience targeting, DV360 ensures effective campaign management.” Additionally, the company keeps innovating, with key partnerships. The recent inclusion of TF1's addressable TV inventory in DV360 provides a significant opportunity for marketers (TF1  is the most popular domestic TV network in France). “This integration of streaming and linear inventories within one platform streamlines campaign execution, saving time for buyers. In the future, it's a great opportunity to even better understand how each inventory contributes to the success of one campaign being able to extract reportings and dashboards more easily."

The third goal is to maintain programmatic buying as a top choice for addressing each client's marketing objectives. “To enhance efficiency without  reducing quality, we provide the ability to create custom algorithms. This feature improves various KPIs, including viewability, visibility, and conversion rates for optimal ROI. For brand safety and viewability concerns, in addition to custom algorithms, clients can leverage third-party solutions such as Adloox, IAS or DoubleVerify.”

"DV360 IS NOT INTERESTED IN USING A NEW SOLUTION THAT SIMPLY RECREATES THE TRACKING CAPABILITIES OF THIRD-PARTY COOKIES, AND WE’D RATHER INVEST IN RELIABLE AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS THAT ENSURE THAT PEOPLE, BUSINESSES AND PUBLISHERS CAN  ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF ONLINE ADVERTISING."

With the gradual rollout of the Privacy Sandbox – Google's endeavor to establish web standards for accessing user information without compromising privacy – the industry's paramount concern, shared by all, was how DV360 adapts and provides dependable solutions for performance and privacy safety in this evolving context. "I don’t represent the Privacy sandbox initiative, but as we think of incorporating privacy technologies into Google’s advertising product such as DV360, Google Chrome is building industry-wide sustainable privacy solutions to meet the needs of the ads industry.” says Amélie. 

Google is massively investing in ads products that embrace first-party relationships, machine learning, mix modeling, and other privacy-preserving technologies: Privacy Sandbox is one of them. “This approach is essential to preserving a sustainable ads ecosystem that serves different needs - an internet that is safe for people, supports businesses & advertisers, and makes publishers and advertisers more successful.” adds Amélie. “The results from our IBA testing show that a combination of privacy-preserving signals coupled with AI optimisation provides positive results for businesses preparing for a cookie-less future. We’re not interested in creating a new solution that simply recreates the tracking capabilities of third-party cookies, and we’d rather invest in reliable and sustainable solutions that ensure that people, businesses and publishers can enjoy the benefits of online advertising.” In a world without third party cookies, first party data will be critical. That’s the reason Google has launched a new first party data solution called PAIR: Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation. “In a nutshell, PAIR allows advertisers and publishers to reconcile their first party data via a data clean room. This new approach is a great way to ensure high privacy standards for users while keeping a strong and reliable solution to maintain audience planning.“

"BEING ABLE TO OFFER CTV ADS FEATURES THROUGH DV360 DESPITE TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS RELATED TO THE DEVICE AND THE ID RESTRICTIONS IS A CHALLENGE, BUT THANKS TO AI AND MACHINE LEARNING, WE ARE NOW ABLE TO OVERCOME SOME OF THESE CHALLENGES IN MANY MARKETS BY OFFERING THE OPPORTUNITY TO FREQUENCY CAP A BIG PART OF VIDEO CAMPAIGNS THROUGH DV360."

Last but not least, we at Adloox wondered how DV360 is positioned on CTV and what the DSP's value proposition is. Amélie answers: “On the video side, the landscape is changing fast and the penetration of Connected TVs in EMEA markets is showing that it is becoming more and more strategic for an advertiser to address this device. In France, 68% of households have a connected TV. We are currently seeing a shift in the way people are watching digital content from their mobile to their TV screen. The digital content itself is more and more diverse : SVOD, AVOD, FAST…”

From streaming to linear, the large majority of these inventories are now available through Google DV360 in France, and, as said previously, launched the addressable TF1’s TV offer which means that advertisers can now run campaigns on linear TV in DV360. “This large offer is a great opportunity for advertisers to combine reach and targeting.” explains Amélie. 

But when it comes to planning & measurement, convergence doesn’t mean simplicity. Indeed, the French market is a very specific one : 72% of users are connected via their set up boxes which means ISPs are positioning themselves as data providers to the marketing industry. “Being able to offer CTV ads features through DV360 despite technical limitations related to the device and the ID restrictions is a challenge, but thanks to AI and machine learning, we are now able to overcome some of these challenges in many markets by offering the opportunity to frequency cap a big part of video campaigns through DV360.” concludes Amélie. DV360 has taken a significant stride in the programmatic industry by introducing dedicated features that empower buyers to strategize video campaigns and assess CTV campaigns effectively.

In conclusion, DV360 is one of the key actors of the programmatic industry with a strategy combining innovation, support and strong partnerships within the French ecosystem. The aim is to provide unique and powerful inventories that align with industry expectations, and to ultimately remain the preferred DSP.