Henneo is one of the leading media groups in Spain with more than 24 million users (Comscore). The organization has promoted a media alliance called Alayans, uniting 15 publishers across more than 45 websites. In a world that is moving towards a higher focus on transparency and user privacy, many publishers anticipate challenges in being able to monetize their content properly as they rely on third-party cookies.

Alayans recognised that they needed to create a future-proof data platform in order to unify and support digital transformation across a varied portfolio of brands while keeping user data safe. This project’s aim is to help local and niche publishers within the organization become more efficient by providing unifying technology and increasing monetization without the use of third-party cookies.

The data management platform (DMP) deployed by Alayans allows all participating media to monetize their websites by replacing thirdparty cookies with first-party cookies. A first-party cookie is created by collecting behavioral data from anonymous users and enriching it with data, such as age, gender and location, from Henneo’s registered users.

The DMP uses this data to help carry out useful functions that provide a good user experience. All media involved in the project shared the DMP, which enhances the user experience with push notifications, personalized newsletters, content recommendations and personalized paywall messages, while respecting user consent choices and following privacy guidance.

With a database of 1.2 million registered users, Alayans no longer needs to rely on intermediaries to provide the technology to sell digital advertising formats. Within six months, Alayans successfully integrated the new technology across all 15 publishers to assist and accelerate their digital transformation and ensure success in the new media environment. The project helped to reduce team running costs by more than 90% when compared with solutions on the market or individual publishers developing their own platforms.