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Indian commuters drives past an advertisement poster of Google in Bangalore on April 6, 2018. / ... [+] AFP PHOTO / MANJUNATH KIRAN (Photo credit should read MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Estragon: I cant go on like this.

Vladimir: Thats what you think.

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Googles recently-announced delay of the end of digital ad cookies until at least year-end 2023 still leaves much of the multi-billion-dollar industry as uncertain of the future as the characters in Waiting for Godot, Becketts archetypal masterpiece of forward-looking angst. If you think you were pained as a parent by Barney the Dinosaurs ditty Who took the cookies from the cookie jar? wait until the entire cookie jar is gone from the digital advertising business.

Advertising in media prior to the digital age was often a big guessing game for buyers and sellers, summed up by the famous adage of department store magnate John Wanamaker: I know Im wasting half of my advertising dollars; I just dont know which half. The digital age has made it exponentially easier for advertisers to find their targeted audience and deliver specifically-focused messages that they want them to receive. Rather than spray and pray advertising to a mass audience, with demographics as your sole guide, you could focus heavily on just those folks most likely to be interested in your products.

Cookies have been the horse to draw targeted audiences to the advertisers desired well. Advertisers place cookies digital files on websites to gather information on users and their interests by digitally clinging to the user in their journey to other websites. When youve bought a pair of socks and cant stop seeing sock ads everywhere you go after that, its cookies that help make that happen. And when the website isnt owned by the advertiser (usually the case), the cookies are thus third party, placed with permission of the website owner/publisher.

To address at least in part concerns about the undermining of consumer privacy from often unknown cookie-tracking, Google announced in January 2020 that it would by year-end 2021 phase out support for cookies through its Chrome browser. Great news, right! Ummits a little complicated.

Googles Privacy Sandbox initiative, as well as Apples very public campaign highlighting its intent to eliminate cookie-equivalents in its controlled operating system, wont mean the end of consumer tracking online hardly. It would just mean that the power of who could track in the absence of alternatives would be more centralized with the digital giants who control the key online gateways. And there is the small problem that the entire ecosystem of digital publishing depends overwhelmingly on revenues from advertising, so you pull out that thread, and what does that business look like? As David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, said to me this past week, One of the only things that people could actually count on and kept them connected during the pandemic was the digital ecosystem. If cookies are gone and cookie-fueled targeted advertising still propels the whole system, what does the post-cookies world look like?

OK, so then Googles announcement that the end of cookies will now be delayed until at least the end of 2023 is unambiguously good news for the digital advertising industry, right? Ummits complicated. Cohen acknowledged there is a need to develop the vision of the post-cookies world and shared his concern that the industry is not ready for that today. He cited an IAB industry survey from earlier this year in which 67% of respondents said they were prepared for cookies to end, but only 45% had concerns about their ability to target audiences without cookies. How can you be prepared for the end of cookies if you dont even realize that without them there is no clear approach to targeting your audience?

This uncertainty is bolstered by the advertising data firm Captify, which reported from its recent industry survey that 69% of advertisers expect their ad performance to decline once cookies are gone. Thats a pretty grim view of the future if the system isnt even prepared to tell you what the future looks like.

The challenge for industry leaders like Cohen is a lessened sense of urgency about the need for a post-cookies future. He notes that it takes a long time to turn around an aircraft carrier and much work must be done in educating the industry about potential alternatives, creating an agreed upon set of principles for what comes next, and most importantly testing alternatives to see what really works and what doesnt. He also acknowledged the need for the industry to be more forthright with consumers about the trade-off between enjoying the ease of access and breadth of diversity in free digital content that demands revenues to support it. Will consumers agree with Cohen and the great Joni Mitchell - You dont know what youve got til its gone?

Fundamental in all of this is that Cohen doesnt see a cookie-less future with one meta framework, but rather expects a portfolio of solutions to emerge. Part of it will certainly involve marketers making greater use of their first-party data from consumers coming directly to their content and then joining together with other marketers to share each others data. But balancing the need for consumer buy-in isnt going to be less complicated with this type of data than it is today.

A number of companies are developing their own identity solutions and visions of a cookie-less future. Giants of todays digital ad ecosystem such as The Trade Desk, LiveRamp and Lotame are developing means of identifying consumers according to their permission parameters. Other alternatives include that from ID5, whose CEO and Founder Mathieu Roche (and a fellow Executive in Residence at Progress Partners) told me he has been working at this for the last 4 years. Roche wants to buck the digital advertising industrys all-too-often temptation of overpromising and underdelivering by focusing solely on perfecting a consumer-compatible solution for identifying target audiences. He advocates for a neutral identity system which isnt driven to sell you data or other advertising services.

About the only thing we know for sure right now is that the digital advertising business is in for a lot more testing and learning in this space. In Waiting for Godot, the titular character never actually arrives (should I have called spoiler alert?). With at least two years of waiting until the exit of cookies, the digital advertising industry is hoping for a lot more certainty whenever this play actually ends.

Originally posted here:
Google Moves Cookies End To 2023 As Digital Ad Biz Awaits Alternatives - Forbes

BANGKOK (AP) A massive explosion at a chemical factory on the outskirts of Bangkok early Monday killed at least one person, injured dozens more and damaged scores of homes, while prompting the evacuation of a wide area over fears of poisonous fumes and the possibility of additional denotations.

Dense clouds of black smoke continued to billow from the site late in the day. Winds shifted and started blowing toward the citys center, and evacuation centers were set up in a school and a government office for those forced from their homes.

The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. at a foam and plastic pellet manufacturing factory just outside Bangkok near Suvarnabhumi Airport, with the explosion blowing out windows of surrounding homes and sending debris raining from the air.

The blast could be heard for kilometers (miles) and surveillance video from a nearby house captured the bright flash and boom, followed by damage to the home and the one next door from the shockwaves.

The main blaze at the Ming Dih Chemical factory had been brought under control by mid-morning, but an enormous tank containing the chemical styrene monomer continued to burn, said local disaster prevention official Chailit Suwannakitpong. Officials said many tons of styrene monomer were stored on the site.

Helicopters tried to navigate close enough through the thick black smoke to dump fire retardant onto the fire, with little apparent success.

The Prime Ministers Office ordered that rain clouds be seeded if possible in the hope that a downpour would help bring the pollutants out of the sky, then reversed the command over concerns it would lead to toxic chemicals contaminating the citys rivers and canals.

Authorities said 62 people had been injured, including 12 involved in firefighting and rescue efforts, and one person had been confirmed dead.

Styrene monomer, a hazardous liquid chemical used in the production of disposable foam plates, cups and other products, can produce poisonous fumes when ignited. Chailit said officials were trying to move all people out of the area, including doctors and patients from the neighborhoods main hospital where many of the casualties were initially treated, over fear of the fumes and the possibility of more explosions.

The chemical itself also emits styrene gas, a neurotoxin, which can immobilize people within minutes of inhalation and can be fatal at high concentrations. Last year in the Indian city of Visakhapatnam, a leak of styrene gas from a chemical factory killed 12 people and sickened more than 1,000.

Authorities were carefully monitoring the air in the area around the fire, and Pollution Control Department official Thalerngsak Petchsuwan urged anyone remaining in the vicinity to close their doors and windows to avoid inhaling any fumes.

Those who breathe it in can get dizzy and vomit and it might cause cancer in the long term, he said.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of an area 5 kilometers (3 miles) around the scene.

Firefighters could be seen in photos from Thai media climbing through the twisted steel wreckage of the complexs warehouses to get their hoses close enough to the flames as they fought to control the blaze. The badly charred body of the only known fatality identified by officials as an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter lay face down among the wreckage, his head resting on his right forearm.

The area around the factory is a mixture of older industrial complexes and newer housing developments that were built after the opening of the airport in 2006.

Jaruwan Chamsopa, who lives about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the factory, said the loud explosion in the middle of the night broke her houses windows, damaged the roof and caused parts of the ceiling to tumble down. She said the windows of every house on her road were broken as well.

I was shocked when the explosion took place, she told The Associated Press. I came out and saw a big fire in the sky.

She said she and her husband and mother didnt evacuate until 8 a.m.

I didnt realize that it would be such a dangerous chemical that I have to evacuate, she said. I am worried because the black smoke reached my house.

There was no immediate word on what might have caused the fire in Bang Phli district, and the company was not reachable by phone.

The initial explosion shook the terminal building at Suvarnabhumi, Bangkoks main international airport, setting off alarms.

Airport officials said no flights had been canceled but they were continuing to monitor the situation and were prepared to put in place contingency plans in case of emergency.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Blake, Tassanee Vejpongsa and Chalida Ekvittayavechnukul contributed to this report.

See the original post:
Evacuations ordered after Thai chemical factory explodes - The Associated Press

Spain's 5-3 win over Croatia in extra time of their Euro 2020 round-of-16 tie had everything: there was a "You won't believe your eyes" own goal, there was a spirited comeback in the final moments of normal time, and there was a heart-warming story of redemption.

In other words, it was the game of the tournament so far.

The drama began in the 20th minute. That's when Pedri played a long backpass that evaded goalkeeper Unai Simon and gently rolled into the Spain net to put Croatia in front.

But Spain would dig themselves out of that hole. Pablo Sarabia equalised 18 minutes later, and Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta headed the 2012 European champions into the lead just shy of the hour mark. Ferran Torres added a third in the 76th minute, and La Roja were out of sight, right?

Not quite.

Five minutes from full-time, Mislav Osic earned Croatia a consolation goal, but surely Spain would see out the game's final few minutes. And then Mario Pasalic scored again in the second minute of stoppage time, levelling the score and setting off euphoria among Croatia's fans.

And so, to extra time we went. And it was there that the game was put to bed, and by none other than Alvaro Morata.

The Juventus striker has started all four of Spain's games at Euro 2020, scoring once in the process. But more notably he's accumulated a number of glaring misses, making him the target of widespread ridicule on social media.

That made his eventual winner all the sweeter.

The rest is here:
Croatia vs. Spain was Euro 2020's game of the tournament: How social media reacted - ESPN

A view from the South Rim trail at Big Bend National Park on a hazy day.

Texas is required to come up with a plan to reduce haze in its national parks, but critics say the proposed plan wont do enough to improve air quality.

The requirement is part of the EPA's Regional Haze Rule, which aims to improve air quality on federal lands. In other states, plans to address haze have often included stricter emissions controls for industrial plants, requiring older plants to implement better pollution control technology.

But for the second time, state environmental regulators at the TCEQ are set to approve a plan Wednesday with no new emissions control measures, citing cost concerns.

More than a decade ago, Texas submitted its initial Regional Haze Plan, which led to a legal back and forth between the EPA and the state over what the plan should include. Now, an updated version is due.

While the latest iteration has the approval of a few industry groups, numerous environmental organizations, alongside officials from the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, have filed comments against Texas' plan, saying it doesn't go far enough.

Dan Cohan, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, is among those who filed public comments against the proposed plan. Houston Public Media spoke with Cohan to learn more about how the plan impacts Houston and why it's likely to turn into a legal battle with the EPA again.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I know the Regional Haze Plan addresses haze in Big Bend National Park on the other side of the state so how does it impact Houston?

The same pollution that causes haze and obstructs visibility in the national parks is the same pollution thats deadliest for us to breathe in our cities. So anything that we do to reduce haze also makes us healthier, wherever we live.

What are some of the specific air pollutants that it focuses on?

The main cause of haze is something known as PM 2.5, which means fine particulate matter, so tiny particles that can really be made of anything floating in the air. A large amount of this comes as sulfate particles because Texas has more coal power plants that dont have scrubbers than any other state in the country. (Scrubbers are air pollution control devices that help remove particulate matter.)

How does Texas' proposed plan compare to other states?

I was working on Georgias plan 15 years ago, and Georgia and other neighboring states all made plans to require modern emission control technologies at their facilities. Texas managed to avoid doing that the first time around, and now is proposing to continue doing nothing for a decade to come.

What additional emissions controls would you like to see added?

The biggest problem is that we have several coal power plants that still dont have any scrubbers at all to control their sulfur pollution. And that sulfur pollution is a leading cause of the particles in the air that cause the haze and that hurt our health. All new coal power plants since around 1980 have been required to have scrubbers this is 40-year-old technology thats just a given. Whats happened is that the 1970s plants have been grandfathered in without scrubbers at all. The Regional Haze Rule is supposed to go back to those grandfathered, old power plants and bring them up to modern pollution control levels. Thats whats happened in almost every other state in the country, and Texas really stands alone in having resisted those sorts of scrubbers.

Do you think were likely to see more conflict between the TCEQ and the EPA over the latest plan?

This was a big conflict between TCEQ and EPA over the past decade when EPA kept insisting that there be a stronger plan from Texas. Under President Obama, EPA actually stepped in and issued its own federal plan for Texas after rejecting what Texas had done. But before that federal plan took effect, the Trump administration came in and wiped it out. And so weve been left in this limbo, ping-ponging around between what the state and what EPA wants to do. This plan that TCEQ is going to vote on on June 30 sets up the next round of that. This is another attempt by Texas to do nothing and I would not at all be surprised to see EPA reject this again, and perhaps well see another EPA-issued plan for the state.

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Excerpt from:
Texas Proposed Plan To Reduce Haze In Its National Parks Falls Short, Critics Say - Houston Public Media

As Britney Spears made an anguished speech in court about the control exerted over her life for years, fans, observers and fellow pop stars responded with shock to the details that trickled out from the hearing in Los Angeles, sending messages of support and solidarity.

In the hearing, Ms. Spears said she believed that the conservatorship a legal arrangement that controls her personal life and finances was abusive and that she had not been able to live a full life.

Midway through Wednesdays hearing, after Ms. Spears had finished her prepared testimony, the singer Mariah Carey urged her to stay strong.

Devoted fans on social media who have long suspected that Ms. Spears was not happy with the arrangement commended Ms. Spears for speaking up and reacted with disgust to parts of her account.

Ms. Spears also received supportive words on social media from the singers Brandy, Tinashe and Liz Phair, who wrote that declaring a woman mad to gain control of her assets was the oldest trick in the playbook of the patriarchy.

The singer Halsey wrote on Twitter that she admired Ms. Spearss courage in speaking up and hoped that she would be freed from the abusive system.

Continued here:
Mariah Carey Urges Britney Spears to 'Stay Strong' on Twitter - The New York Times