Later this year Google will require all publishers who use either, AdSense, AdManager or Admob to integrate a Consent Management Platform (CMP) that integrates with IAB's Europe's Transparency and Consent Framework. Publishers who don't comply with these new measures will see Google completely cease to bid on EU + UK inventory. As Google is often over 30-60% Share of Revenue for mobile publishers this can be put in a more eloquent way, implement or die.
Carrot and Stick
People who have the luxury to work with Amazon Publisher Services on the ad monetization side know already exactly what this reality looks like. Amazon Publisher Services has since it's inception not bid on EU+UK traffic if it's not been CMP approved. You can see below a healthy US revenue and a flat line in Germany and the UK due to users not consenting. This serves as a nice warning what Google revenue will look like if publishers don't comply with the CMP measures by end of year 2023. If you're a publisher that works with both Google and APS there is quite a strong case to implement a CMP as not only will you keep your Google inventory in the UK and EU but also gain demand from Amazon.
What are the options for Publishers?
Mobile publishers who want to keep enjoying earning Google revenue from their EU and UK users are now left with two options:
Integrate a third party CMP tool - Choose a vendor from Google's pre-approved CMP list and integrate their solution in your mobile app. This is the most simple and quick solution for publishers with the main draw back that you have no control over the design of the user flow in the UI.
Build your own CMP and get it approved by the IAB - Larger publishers who want to control of the user flow can also design their own Consent Management Platform and then have it approved by the IAB. This is a bit more complex but gives publishers more control over how you ask your users for consent.
Who's already doing CMP the right way?
The IAB does keep a nice list of all companies that are currently CMP approved. Right now it looks like only about 30 companies that have gone the direct route and gotten approved. The only mobile gaming company that I can find that is approved is EasyBrain. If you're curious what an approved CMP flow looks like I took a video of the user flow and posted below. If you want to see the approved CMP flow in the wild I'd encourage you to just download any Easybrain game and have a look yourself.
What do I think?
I've still yet to meet a person on the street in Europe that cares about this. In theory it's a nice idea to more insights to the end user of online consent. In practice this will hurt smaller and less established mobile publishers as it will add extra costs to entering the market.
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