Dutch public broadcaster NPO finds that by completely disabling cookies/micorotargeting that they have actually increased their advertising revenue.
They are instead providing contextual advertising that is more privacy focused and cuts out the advertising middlemen.
Obviously this is just one example that goes against the belief that microtargeted ads are better at driving ad revenues, but its great to see that there can be benifits to advertising models that are not as invasive and rely less on middleman like Google ads.
"On the whole, the new tracking-free ad server was performing so well that NPO decided to abandon cookies entirely beginning in 2020. As of January, visitors aren’t even asked to opt in or out; the site simply doesn’t track anyone. The results have been striking. In January and February of this year, NPO says, its digital ad revenue was up 62 percent and 79 percent, respectively, compared to last year. Even after the coronavirus pandemic jolted the global economy and caused brands to drastically scale back advertising—and forcing many publications to implement pay cuts and layoffs—NPO's revenue is still double-digit percentage points higher than last year."