Apple and Google, the companies behind the two most popular web browsers (Safari and Chrome, respectively), have made it clear that they’re uninterested in allowing cross-device tracking using IP address-level data, and specifically device fingerprinting, which is something of a taboo phrase in ad tech.
“In North America, email is primarily what consumers give to publishers to access content and what consumers give to brands at the point-of-sale, to sign up for a newsletter, or to get a discount code. It’s really ubiquitous in that sense,” Nash said.
800-774-8321
800-774-8321
222-333-4444
818-222-3333
555-676-8888
customer@email.com
customer@email.com
user@user.com
user@user.com
Some companies do both, using deterministic IDs to create look-alike audiences that can then be used to generate probabilistic IDs, or vice versa. (Like we said, the landscape is a little messy.)
Probabilistic IDs
Probabilistic IDs
Deterministic IDs
Deterministic IDs
Deterministic IDs, aka IDs that are tied to information like email addresses or phone numbers, are called “deterministic” because the identifying information often comes from the users themselves, meaning it is possible to determine identity based on those data points. In layman’s terms, if a person uses the same email address to log in to different websites and apps, a deterministic ID can provide a link between them.
One solution backed by many well-known ad-tech companies are alternative IDs, which, broadly speaking, aim to identify users across the web without the use of cookies, and which industry execs claim are more privacy-friendly.
Slowly, but surely, Google is (totally, maybe) moving away from third-party cookies within its Chrome browser. Though Lucy keeps pulling the football, moving the deadline from late 2024 to “early next year,” third-party cookies have already started disappearing, giving advertisers an early snapshot of the post-cookie landscape.
Amelia Kinsinger
Lukasz Włodarczyk, VP of programmatic ecosystem growth and innovation at RTB House, agreed, saying that he didn’t think probabilistic IDs have “long-lasting potential.”
“Getting rid of IP addresses means rewriting the Internet Protocol plain and simple.”
And this is where things get dicey
Into the ID weeds
Different types of alternative IDs
“There isn’t going to be one ID to rule them all, but it’s how these IDs can work together in specific environments and use cases.”
What you'll need to know about the future of digital tracking.
As many advertisers are coming to find, first-party data can be a luxury. Some publishers don’t have subscribers, and some brands are only sold on shelves, lacking robust digital relationships with consumers.
By Ryan Barwick