Identity is at the heart of digital advertising, enabling the individualisation of messages and the measurement of campaign performance for brands.
But the processes to identify users vary greatly across different environments. And they are often inefficient outside of closed ecosystems such as Google and Facebook where consumers are constantly logged in and therefore identifiable.
In addition, traditional identification methods are being challenged by regulators which increasingly require companies to be more transparent on how they collect and process consumers data.
At the same time, browsers and operating systems are restricting these identification systems - namely third-party cookies and mobile advertising IDs - at various speeds. Deadlines for completely removing them keep on changing.
The result is that the ad industry is stuck in a fragmented, no-man’s land of identification.
Advertisers and publishers know that traditional identification methods are going away someday. But while these methods still exist, how can they ensure their campaigns are maximised across all web and mobile environments?
Complexity and fragmentation
With challenges come opportunities, and, in our industry, these come in the shape of technology solutions. Today, there are many identity solutions available to marketers. Some of them enable cookie-less identification whilst others improve the process in cookie-based browsers. The situation in mobile environments is similar.
The complexity becomes greater if we look at how these solutions recognise users across domains or devices. Many rely on accurate but rarely available signals like hashed emails. Others use probabilistic methods and more widely available signals (such as those available in the HTTP requests). This approach is more scalable but less accurate.
When it comes to identity solutions, choice overload and increased complexity are common issues for advertisers. There are plenty of solutions available that offer different types of services and capabilities. With restricted time and finite resources, how can marketers ensure they choose the right solution?
A simple solution for a complex problem
To simplify the complexity of such a fragmented ecosystem and to ease the transition to the post cookie and MAIDs era, we at ID5 have created IdentityCloud. Our experience and expertise with identification in both cookie-based and cookie-less environments have allowed us to create a comprehensive solution that addresses all publishers’ and advertisers’ needs.
No matter the environment - from cookie-based or cookie-less browsers to mobile applications and Connected TVs - IdentityCloud can provide the entire digital advertising ecosystem with enhanced identification and measurement capabilities.
IdentityCloud is signal agnostic. Its technology can leverage any type of information available and both deterministic and probabilistic methods to identify users across domains and devices - provided there is consumers’ consent. Because at ID5, we believe that identity and privacy go hand in hand. IdentityCloud is built on top of a privacy-by-design technology and encryption mechanism that ensures consumers’ privacy preferences are respected and enforced in the advertising value chain.
IdentityCloud is a solution built with the entire digital advertising ecosystem in mind, with the goal to provide value to all players. It enables publishers to increase addressability and monetisation both today, in Safari and Firefox, and tomorrow, in Chrome. At the same time, it allows advertisers to reach valuable audiences with personalised messages across all browsers and devices and to deploy their people-based marketing strategies effectively.
The deprecation of cookies and MAIDs provides the opportunity to build an efficient, privacy-first identification infrastructure that benefits all advertising stakeholders.
In today’s fragmented and ever-changing ecosystem, crowded with vendors offering different identity solutions, it can be difficult to evaluate the right ones for you. Our advice is to favour solutions that follow three important principles: simplicity, privacy compliance and mutual benefit.
Mathieu Roche is co-founder and CEO of ID5
