Third-party cookies are being phased out by regulators and browsers. As a result, lately we have seen a number of new identity solutions hit the market. The Trade Desk was first, followed by Lotame. Now, Verizon Media, the ad tech and digital media division of Verizon proper, is getting in on the action.
Today, Verizon Media has announced ConnectID, a new ID for advertisers and publishers as the ad landscape shifts away from cookies. Like other ID solutions, ConnectID is designed to help advertisers buy, measure and optimize ads, and to help publishers manage, monetize and navigate their audiences — all without third-party cookies. What makes ConnectID unique, however, is how it does that.
Unlike other players, Verizon Media has a wealth of first-party data from brands like Yahoo, TechCrunch, Engadget, and AOL (and possibly Huffpost). The Yahoo dataset is especially valuable given the range of touchpoints in that ecosystem, including search, content and mail. According to Verizon Media, they have direct access to data from almost 900 million consumers. That is a huge advantage.
Verizon Media has also used those direct connections to power its identity graph, which ConnectID is built on top of. Verizon says the ID graph runs on 200 billion “signals” per day, which basically means behavioral data from the company’s sites, apps, content, and services (search, email, etc.).
In the product release, Verizon Media also talks up its “full-stack” DSP and SSP, which “allows for a single user match pool across demand and supply platforms for better transparency, transactions and audience insights.” That end-to-end support is useful for data security, as well, reducing instances of data leakage with third-party integrations (a growing problem for open ecosystem vendors).
According to Iván Markman, Chief Business Officer at Verizon Media: “We are uniquely positioned to drive scaled, consumer-first identity solutions to help advertisers and publishers navigate the evolving digital landscape.”
He might be right as ConnectID plugs several gaps in other identity offerings. Publisher Newsweek has already signed on for ConnectID, according to the announcement.
As a next step for its identity push, Verizon Media says it will partner with data providers like Acxiom, Adstra, Equifax IXI, Experian, Neustar, TransUnion, and Throtle, while also working with IAB Tech Lab to develop additional privacy-friendly tools for addressability. ConnectID is phase one.
At launch, ConnectID is available in North America, APAC and select LATAM markets. Additional markets are forthcoming.
