The IAB Tech Lab has published a new framework for advertisers navigating the end of online identifiers, like third-party cookies and device IDs. The “ID-Less Solutions Guidance” document is open for public feedback through December 19, 2024.
Created by the Tech Lab’s Addressability and Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs 🐶) working group, it offers:
- A technical framework for implementing ID-free advertising
- Specific use cases and their solutions
- Methods for evaluating new privacy-focused technologies
- Guidelines for balancing privacy with targeted advertising
Basically, the guide helps advertisers and publishers try to understand how to target, reach, measure, and optimize without relying on traditional ID-based tools.
The report also works to define ID-less, noting that it “means without identifiers capable of distinguishing individuals, devices, or households.”
Also, cookie-less does not mean ID-less, per the report. It reads: “whether or not solutions are “cookie-less” has no bearing on whether they are ID-Less. Many cookie-less solutions depend on commonly available user information that is consistent across contexts, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to identify activity related to the same user.”
Why This Matters:
Digital advertising operates in two environments. In identity-based targeting, advertisers can access user signals like cookies, emails, or device IDs to reach their audience. ID-less environments, on the other hand, offer no identifying data. Still, advertisers need to deliver personalized ads, of course, track conversions, and prevent fraud.
The shift toward ID-less advertising is only accelerating, driven by browser changes and regulation. In 2022, IAB estimated 50-60% of internet users were already untraceable. Yahoo projects this will reach 75% of open web advertising by the end of the year. The IAB’s guide is designed to try to help the industry succeed in this new normal.
Experts React:
In the press release on the framework, Shailley Singh, Executive Vice President, Product, and COO at IAB Tech Lab, said, “We’re entering a new phase where the rules of addressability have fundamentally changed. This guidance provides the clarity and tools needed to make thoughtful, effective decisions in environments where an ID is not available.”
Our Take:
How do DSPs navigate an increasingly ID-less Internet? Some, like TTD, focus heavily on cookie-less addressability, which still relies on alternative IDs rather than truly operating without them. This could make DSPs like Yahoo or Adlook, which emphasize ID-less solutions, or contextual players like GumGum or Comscore Proximic, more appealing in a future where IDs are so scarce.
