We are on the same page to get some clarity over this buzz on Universal IDs. To clear the clouds I curated this Why to how story of cookie depreciation and Universal IDs

1. Here is a timeline of key events in data privacy for
the most recent two years:
Image source
Here's the story behind it:
01
Why?
Third-party cookies were ruling the advertising world; Advertisers would
treasure them like precious gems.
But they are vanishing now!
As there is no proper control over these precious cookies, the data can be misused.
Most consumers don't know that their behaviors are being tracked for marketing
and advertising purposes.
To take the things in control before they get worse, these things came into the picture.
Data ownership Transparent use of data
Consent management GDPR, CCPA & many more
So, Did this thing called 'cookie depreciation' start?
02
Worry not, here are few solutions for it
03
What is the concept of Universal ID?
04
Firefox Safari Chrome
76%
18%
6%
BROWSER MARKET
SHARE WORLDWIDE
By this time, you sure understood why they started worrying.
If Google phases out cookies, more than 76% of the browser cookies will vanish,
and one cannot imagine a scenario of advertising with no cookies.
Leveraging maximum of
first-party data
A customer data platform
Universal ID
Browser fingerprinting
Contextual targeting
Privacy sandbox
Geo-targeting
Ad-channels and assets that don't
rely on cookies like IP address,
connected TV, and so on…
Let's talk about the last one for now:
Now, there are countless cookies attached to a single person, and while targeting,
we are syncing all the cookies leveraging the middle players like ssp, DSP, and
many more…for personalized reach.
Everything looks seamless?
Absolutely No!
At every stage of cookie syncing, we are losing many audiences,
To speak with numbers.
100M users 80M users 64M users 44.8M users
START Sync 1: Sync 2: Sync 3:
Advertiser’s
target audience
With DMP 20%
audience loss
With DSP 20%
audience loss
With SSP 30%
audience loss
Active cookies Lost cookies
In the above example picture, an advertiser started the process with 100M users but
ended up matching only 44.8M users, and the more the number of partners,
the less will be the match rate.
Google & Facebook are taking most of the digital advertising budget as per emarketer.
Both of the giants have a single ID, unlike other advertising platforms.
Yes, only a single ID for a person. That means, Whosoever finds you,
your name will be your name. No hundreds of nicknames and code names.
This is what universal ID results to.
05 What else does it solve?
Fewer pixels on the page result in
faster page loads & improved page
performance overall, enhancing
user engagement.
Cut the confusion
with hundreds of IDs.
Fewer cookie IDs will
increase match rates
Significantly limit the audience loss
from passing IDs down the supply
chain & syncing them at each step.
It also eliminates the effort
associated with maintaining &
matching so many IDs.
Fewer IDs reduce the inefficiencies, re-syncing processes,
and impression loss from users' refreshing cookies or expired cookies.
All of this saves time, which ops teams
can use to develop more forward-
thinking strategies.
Consumers will see more relevant ads
and faster page loads
Advertisers will reach more valuable
users & eventually increase ad
effectiveness
Publishers will match more of their
valuable audience data & earn
more for their inventory
SSPs will reduce operational costs
from network syncs & data storage
DSPs will get more auction
participants & make it easier for
a client to hit campaign goals
Data providers will make more
matches between supply & demand
partners & earn more from their data
06 Okay, How does it benefit the players in the eco-system?
Is it only one type?
No, it does exist in a few types.
07 Here we go with them, their pros and cons
Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3 Solution 4
Description
Examples
Advantages
Drawbacks
Operate only within
walled gardens where
users are logged in
A first-party data -
based approach
Proprietary shared
ID Solution
Industry shared
ID Solution
Facebook, Google,
Amazon
Liveramp’s Identity
Link
The Trade Desk’s
Universal ID
Digitrust from IAB
Tech Lab, ID5
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Deterministic, accurate
data, Granular user &
audience profile
Deterministic,
accurate
Less syncing, less page
weight, more
streamlined process
Less syncing, less page
weight, more
streamlined process
No access user data
outside of the walled
garden, and can’t
control for frequency
capping or omnichannel
campaigns
Limited scale, hightened
risk of future privacy
concerns
Provides a competitive
advantage to one
industry player who
has control over how
identity is defined &
controlled; ITP & chrome
updates compromise
the cookie
ITP and Chrome updates
compromise the
cookie
Apart from these, several other companies such as Brightpool, Criteo, Parrable,
and many more are working to smoothen the process of cookie-syncing.
So, what do you think about this concept called 'Universal IDs'?
Does this work after cookies phase out?
Can they replace third-party cookies completely in advertising?
IAB deprecated Digitrust recently, and researching on the ways to skip the hurdles with new solutions.
References:
https://iabseaindia.com/universal-id/ https://digitalkites.com/blog/cookieless-future/
https://iabseaindia.com/the-identity-problem-walled-gardens-first-party-data-and-unified-id/
https://iabseaindia.com/the-death-of-the-3rd-party-cookie-and-tracking-as-we-know-it-a-practical
approach-to-prepare-for-the-changes/
https://www.adexchanger.com/data-driven-thinking/the-case-for-any-unified-id/
https://headerbidding.co/universal-id-adtech/
Mozilla Firefox and apple safari have started blocking third-party cookies by default.
Google Chrome announced they would go cookieless by 2022.
This was when marketers started panicking.
Wondering why?
Yes
The Comprehensive Story
Behind Universal IDs
www.audienceplay.com
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