Cookie stealing has become a problem in the digital advertising industry -- as have the attempts to prevent it from happening.

So why are advertisers and app developers still using them?

Google introduced a security protection for Google Chrome 127 to help prevent stealing of credentials, but now a newly released hacking tool has broken the protection.

Stealing cookies -- especially session cookies -- is a popular way to accomplish this, as it means the hacker can bypass protections because they are already logged in to someone's apps and devices. David Winder, veteran cybersecurity writer, hacker and analyst at Forbes, is an expert on this topic.

Cookie stealing is one very good reason that the industry should move away from cookies.

Google started this type of protection with cookies in Chrome, but has since expanded the strategy to protect passwords, payment data and other authentication tokens. The company released its cookie tool in July, but by September many of those hackers stealing information found a way to bypass its security feature and get into apps and devices.

Cybersecurity researcher Alexander Hagenah launched his own tool to bypass Google's app encryption cookie-theft defenses to secure the data after he noticed others were figuring out how to Google’s security efforts.

So would it be best to do away with cookies altogether?

ID5 released the 2024 State of Digital Identity Report Thursday, which that analyzes how companies have responded to how Google’s changes in adoption of identity resolution technology have affected industries across channels.

Among survey participants, 36%, tested Privacy Sandbox -- and of those, 71% were disappointed or very disappointed with the test result.

The report shares insights into the opinions and strategies of 202 respondents worldwide and across industries including advertisers, publishers, and ad-tech platforms.

The report examines how these participants have responded to Google’s July 2024 announcement that it would not remove third-party cookies but allow users to opt-out.

Many believe Google’s decision to reverse its plans was due to poor Privacy Sandbox results and the ongoing investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in Europe, which may be a correct assumption.

It could have been an idea well ahead of its time in terms of the readiness of technology. It may not have been mature enough to compete with even an outdated tool like browser cookies to achieve the same results.

Whatever the reason behind the change in plans, 75% of respondents to ID5’s report said Google’s shift won’t derail their transition from cookies. It's important to consider that 76% of respondents have already adopted a cookieless alternative, with 15% planning to adopt some type of cookieless solution.

Universal IDs are the most favored solution, with 85% of respondents saying they deploy them to address cookieless traffic. Some 60% of brands believe it is their tech partners’ responsibility to solve identity challenges, and 80% of those responding to the study believe their tech partners are prepared to help. 

The survey also found that advertisers are shifting toward other channels such as connected TV (CTV), audio, mobile, and gaming -- which explains why Google DeepMind has spent so much time on audio and artificial intelligence.

When asked to cite other channels that require addressability, 53% identified CTV as the top priority with mobile following at 26%.

In the 2023 edition of the report, 66% of respondents believed CTV environments did not give users transparency or control over their data, compared with 80% of respondents this year.

Some 38% of respondents believe opt-out rates will be higher than Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) on iOS, which is estimated between 60% and 80%. Thirty one respondents believe on Google the opt-out rate will be between 40% and 60%.

It’s not all about the browsers. While cookies in Chrome have been the main topic, conversations are shifting to new channels such as CTV, mobile, audio, and gaming.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that cookie stealing will soon come to those media.

While Snapchat's minimal user growth in the U.S. may raise concerns for investors, the social media company's third-quarter results show a steadily improving advertising business, with the rollout of additional ad formats and more small businesses flocking to the app.

In Q3 Snapchat added 11 million users, increasing its total number of daily active users to 443 million.

The global increase, however, does not reflect steady growth in the U.S. -- its most established market -- which has remained stagnant at 100 million users over the past two years.

Because the majority of Snap's revenue is still generated from its U.S. users, investors will eventually want to see an uptick in stateside users.

In addition, the platform’s user growth has been minimal in Europe as well.

But the company's recent investment in its ad business, which it began rebuilding in 2022, is paying off. Since introducing its Conversions API (CAPI), Snap has seen an increase in small and medium-sized business (SMB) advertisers, CAPI integration partners, and a revenue boost.

In Q3, Snap increased its overall revenue by 15% year-over-year -- bringing in $1.37 billion, with total active advertisers more than doubling year-over-year.

The company says its direct-response products are seeing a positive response from SMB advertisers.

For example, its Snap Promote offering has allowed SMBs and creators to promote their services, content, and products, while reaching new audiences and measuring ad performance directly on their mobile app.

The company has seen positive results with its new ad formats as well, including Sponsored Snaps, which Snap is currently testing with Disney. Along with Promoted Places, Sponsored Snaps are designed to leverage Snap's existing full-screen vertical video Snap Ad format so advertisers can automate placement across its ad service.

Snap says these new ad formats will launch in the fourth quarter this year.

According to a new report by Gupta Media, Snapchat is also currently leading the social media landscape in ad-rate increases.

In 2024, the company has seen the most dramatic CPM growth, with ad rates rising by 27.6% year-over-year, outpacing all other major platforms.

And to help boost engagement in the app while also further improving its ad business, Snap recently introduced the beta version of a new user interface (UI) called Simple Snapchat – a simplified version of its current app that seeks to simplify users's engagement options, moving stories posted by friends to the top of their inbox, with alerts that indicate new content.

The company says the new UI is “driving the greatest content engagement gains among more casual users,” including increased time spent with content, increased story views, and more replies to friends' stories, especially on Android devices.

Snap's subscription service, Snapchat+, has also grown, adding 1 million new subscribers in just two months, increasing the total number to 12 million users paying a monthly fee.

Yahoo DSP will work with GeoEdge, which focuses on ad security and quality, to create a safer and more reliable ad environment for advertisers and their customers as malvertising remains a challenge across the advertising industry.

GeoEdge’s ad-quality service will ensure that ad creative running through Yahoo DSP is secure and free from malware and content risks.

As digital advertising faces increasing user experience and safety threats, the technology safeguards against malicious code, social engineering attacks, cloaking and sensitive advertising.

Ad-quality controls support Yahoo in protecting against high-risk and harmful creative content, including political and election ads. 

Security is important to Amnon Siev, GeoEdge CEO, who has been developing products and supporting sales for enterprise technology providers to secure a safer internet most of his life.

“As a father, it’s important for me that my kids have a safe internet environment that’s free of malicious ads and content,” Siev told MediaPost. “We all spend so much time interacting with the internet,” he said, for business and leisure.

Every child, parent, and friend should be able to open their phone, TV, or computer and experience a safe internet environment without being concerned the ad is infected with malware, he said.

That thinking created the goal for GeoEdge to ensure its customers and partners — platforms, publishers, app developers, out-of-home (OOH) and connected television (CTV) — across the digital ecosystem are free from malicious ads and content. 

When asked how he got into the security business, Siev said the first companies he worked for provided a range of solutions to support communications, including WiFi and business communications.

Yahoo DSP conducted an in-depth vendor assessment to find the solutions that would fit the company’s needs for addressing malware prevention, filtering sensitive ad content and integrating seamlessly into the company’s infrastructure with customized control capabilities.

The selection process included a rigorous evaluation and intensive engineering efforts to meet Yahoo DSP’s needs.

GeoEdge’s ad-security technology ensures Yahoo DSP that the ads being served — either directly or via programmatic channels — are free of malicious ads and high-risk content by analyzing ads before they are served.

GeoEdge also supports app developers with AppHrbr, CTV players, and OOH digital ads served in public spaces, as well as platforms and publishers.

This year, the company's biggest challenge and accomplishment has been its ability to address sensitive ad content, such as deepfake political ads and hate speech. This has been an issue with CTV, where security concerns have yet to arise.  

GeoEdge security researchers also this year discovered the operations of ScamClub, a sophisticated cybercrime syndicate that manipulates VAST tags using obfuscated malicious scripts.

This tactic enables large-scale fraudulent redirects through video ad units, marking a critical evolution in the industry’s battle against malvertising.

The company's security researchers are addressing this shift with a focus on something Siev called malvertising-as-a-service (MaaS), especially as threat actors increasingly target video ads for higher financial gain.  

"As we look towards 2025, the biggest challenges are the increase in scammers and other nefarious actors who create deepfakes and salacious creatives to mislead consumers to click on their scams," he said. "We’re seeing programmatic criminal rings forming to take advantage of the opportunities in the open web."

Google’s parent company Alphabet reported third-quarter revenue has risen 15% to $88.27 billion for Q3 2024 compared with the year-ago quarter.

The company reported $84.7 billion in revenue and $23.62 billion in net income in the second quarter of 2024.

Google Advertising rose to $65.9 billion versus $65.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, but search remains the largest service contributing to revenue growth, the company said.

Revenue from Google’s search engine rose 12% to $49.4 billion in the third quarter -- slightly higher than analysts’ estimate of $49 billion.

AI supercharges search, the company says, especially with younger users.

The Circle to Search feature is seeing higher engagement from people ages 18 to 34 and expands the ability to identify intent and connect users with advertisers.

The visual search feature Lens is being used for nearly 20 billion visual searches, and one in four has commercial intent. People also are turning to Lens to run multimodal searches.

With AI Overviews -- where Google has begun showing search and shopping ads in mobile in the U.S. -- people now find ads in the new feature helpful, the company said.

Services at Google revenue rose 13% to $76.5 billion, led by strength across Google Search and other, Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices, and YouTube ads.

YouTube ad revenue reached $8.92 billion -- up from $7.95 billion a year ago -- and Cloud services was reported as $11.35 billion, compared with $8.41 billion, respectively. 

For the first time ever, YouTube’s combined advertising and subscription revenue surpassed $50 billion during the past four quarters. YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, and YouTube Music Premium are driving subscription growth for the platform, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during the earnings call.

“We are leaning into the experience with Multiview and a new option for creators to organize content into episodes and seasons similar to traditional TV,” Pichai said.

Google Cloud revenue grew 35% year-over-year to $11.4 billion, bolstered by "accelerated growth" in the company's AI products, the company said.

Revenue rose despite Google’s continuing antitrust battles with the Department of Justice and other governments worldwide. There have also been antitrust accusations from Yelp as well as allegations from Microsoft that Google has been conducting “shadow” campaigns to undermine its businesses.

Fortnite developer Epic Games is opposing Google's request to stay an injunction that would require Google to revamp its Play Store.

“Injunctive relief is in the public interest by definition because it will put an end to Google’s active anticompetitive conduct,” Epic argues in papers filed Monday with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The order, issued earlier this month by U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in San Francisco, includes provisions that would require Google Play to host other companies' app stores, and give those companies access to Google's library of apps. The injunction also includes provisions prohibiting Google from forcing developers to use its billing system for Play Store apps.

Donato issued the order after a jury sided with Epic Games in its antitrust battle with Google. Epic alleged in a 2020 lawsuit that Google wrongly required developers who distributed Play Store apps to use Google payment system, and also made it too difficult for Android users to download apps from sources other than the Play Store.

The matter went to trial last year, and resulted in a jury verdict that Google created or maintained an illegal monopoly in two markets -- Android app distribution, and Android in-app billing.

Google is appealing the verdict and has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the injunction.

Earlier this month, Donato agreed to halt the bulk of his order until the 9th Circuit rules on Google's request.

Epic Games argues in its new papers that Google isn't entitled to a stay for several reasons, including that the company hasn't shown it's likely to prevail on its appeal of the underlying antitrust finding.

Google said in its initial request for a stay that it “has a strong chance of succeeding on appeal,” for several reasons -- including that the verdict is inconsistent with a different federal judge's finding in a similar antitrust lawsuit by Epic against Apple. In that matter, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Epic failed to prove that Apple violated anti-monopoly laws, and that Google and Apple Play compete with each other.

Donato violated “basic preclusion principles,” by allowing Epic to prove that Google monopolized a market relating to mobile apps after Rogers found that Google and Apple compete in the app marketplace, Google argued.

“It is pause-inducing that Apple, which requires all apps go through its proprietary App Store, is not a monopolist, but Google -- which built choice into the Android operating system so device makers can preinstall and users can download competing app stores -- was condemned for monopolization,” Google said in its initial request to the 9th Circuit.

But Epic counters that Google's argument is a “red herring,” arguing that the claims against Google centered only on Android apps and payment systems. Essentially, Epic says that even if Apple and Google compete in the general market for mobile apps, Google could still monopolize the narrower Android-specific markets for app distribution and in-app purchases.

The Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice sided with Epic on that point in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Saturday.

“Even though a broader market in which both Apple and Google app stores competed was relevant in Epic v. Apple, there is nothing contradictory about limiting the relevant market in Epic v. Google, a case involving different challenged conduct, to the distribution of apps sold on Android phones,” government attorneys wrote.

Microsoft has accused Google of funding groups that allegedly conduct biased studies and shadow campaigns to discredit Microsoft and mislead antitrust enforcers and the public.

Rima Alaily, Microsoft CVP and deputy general council, alleged that an astroturf group called the Open Cloud Coalition will launch this week paid for by Google. The organization will make it appear as if a handful of European cloud providers launched the group, but Alaily, in the post, claims Google is behind the organization.

Wikipedia defines "astroturfing" as the deceptive practice of hiding sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization such as political, advertising, religious, or public relations to make it appear as though it comes from, and is supported by, unsolicited grassroots participants. 

“Google’s tactics, unfortunately, go beyond creating astroturf lobbying organizations,” she wrote. “They’re also speaking out in their own name in disingenuous ways and putting forward paid commentators to discredit us. Why? I suspect much has to do with the fact that Google is facing a reckoning.”

She pointed to Department of Justice accusations against Google search, digital advertising, and mobile app store monopolies, and explained that never before has Google faced such a "concerted and determined threat" to its businesses as it does today. 

Microsoft estimates Google has at least 24 antitrust investigations ongoing against it in leading digital markets worldwide. 

“At a time when Google should be focused on addressing legitimate questions about its business, it is instead turning its vast resources towards tearing down others,” she wrote. 

The statement is long and accusatory, full of details that outline other areas where Google has attacked Microsoft behind the scenes. 

“We understand Google is a main funder of the U.S.-based Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, which has levied attacks on our cloud computing business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the EU, she wrote. “The organization is run by a well-known lobbyist for Google in Washington D.C., but Google’s affiliation isn’t disclosed publicly by the organization.”

Other areas include pitching cybersecurity stories to reporters that suggest questions to congressional offices ahead of hearings, and distributing documents in major capitals around the world. Some documents, the post claims, are misleading and filled with inaccuracies. 

Microsoft's claims are only one instance. There are others that relate to suppressing articles in Google Search and YouTube.

Small publishers have made the claim, along with many in the Republican party that Google has suppressed important stories such as the interview between podcast host Joe Rogan and former President Donald Trump. 

On X, people have posted that YouTube does not return the link to the full interview between Joe Rogan and Trump no matter how many times they try to search for it, although it has had a huge amount of views. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers made history when first baseman Freddie Freeman ended game one of the World Series with the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. In addition to giving the hometown Dodgers the win in the series’ opening game, the history-making blast also resulted in $25,000 in hurricane recovery relief, thanks to T-Mobile’s “Rallying For Hurricane Relief” campaign.

The mobile provider launched the campaign earlier that day, promising to donate $25,000 for every home run hit during the fall classic, as well as $10 every time someone texts “RALLY” to the dedicated 90999 line during the campaign -- up to $1 million -- to support disaster relief for communities impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms in 2024. T-Mobile's partners are the American Red Cross and Major League Baseball. 

"Since Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall, T-Mobile’s Emergency Response teams have been on the ground helping restore connectivity and assist impacted communities,” T-Mobile president of marketing, strategy and products Mike Katz said in a statement. “We’re using one of baseball’s biggest stages to bring attention to these impacted areas and make a difference for the communities that need it most.”

To promote the brand’s disaster relief pledge, T-Mobile  also teamed up with veteran pop musician Sheryl Crow, who recorded “Light A Candle” -- a new song written by Luke Dick and Ronan O’Mahony -- for the campaign, with Crow’s proceeds from the track being donated directly to American Red Cross.

The song also provides the soundtrack for the campaign’s hero ad, “Rallying For Hurricane Relief with MLB,” which made its debut during game one of the World Series. With Crow’s contribution playing in the background, the ad celebrates the resilience of communities recovering from the recent disasters, highlighting T-Mobile’s history of responding to such crises.

T-Mobile has a history of connecting its campaigns around the fall classic to hurricane recovery efforts. It first launched a “Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery” program back in 2017, and claims to have contributed some $7.5 million to organizations supporting hurricane and natural disaster relief and recovery efforts since then.

As for the longball-based World Series disaster relief effort, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that the series has already resulted in half a dozen home runs (four from the Dodgers, including a pair from Freeman alone, and two from the New York Yankees), amounting to a pledge of $150,000 from T-Mobile. The bad news is, with the Dodgers up two games to none, the series has the potential to be a short one.