Publift Supported Identity Solutions

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The world of digital advertising is undergoing a major change as concerns about privacy become crucial to how user data is handled. For years, third-party cookies have served as the backbone of online advertising, monitoring users across websites and creating profiles that enable marketers to target their audiences better. However, this approach has come under increasing scrutiny as a result of growing privacy concerns and strict regulations. Companies are currently rethinking how to retain ad effectiveness and user engagement in this new, privacy-conscious era.

Third-party cookies are being phased out, with major web browsers such as Safari and Firefox already blocking them and Google Chrome offering third party cookie alternatives. This development has left advertisers and publishers looking for innovative approaches that keep ad relevancy while preserving user privacy. Without these cookies, many of the methods that advertisers relied on for years will become obsolete, necessitating the urgent need for fresh ideas that continue to allow accurate targeting and effective ad performance.

Publift is stepping in to help publishers with this change. Publift, a leading digital advertising technology partner, aims to help publishers flourish in this rapidly evolving environment. Publift helps publishers maintain their ad revenue while ensuring that the ads they display are relevant and personalised by enabling innovative identity solutions and providing the tools needed to flourish in a world without third-party cookies.

The Need for Identity Solutions in a Cookie-less World

The transition away from third-party cookies represents a significant change in the digital advertising sector. This move is not a passing trend; it is motivated by increasing concerns about user privacy and how personal data is stored online. Third-party cookies have long been a key mechanism to track users across websites and gather information about their online activity. Advertisers utilised this data to create detailed user profiles, allowing them to provide personalised adverts based on the user's interests. However, as greater attention has been focused on concerns of data privacy and user consent, third-party cookies have come under fire for collecting and using data without the user's explicit consent.

Privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States (US) amongst many other laws currently across 19 US states, have altered the rules of collection and tracking. These regulations require companies to be more transparent about how they acquire and use data, allowing users greater control over their personal information. As a result, companies are now under pressure to find alternatives to third-party cookies that meet these new privacy standards.

Progressive browsers, such as Safari and Firefox, have also taken the lead in implementing third-party cookie restrictions, expediting the transformation in the field of advertising. Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox set the industry standard for user privacy by emphasizing user control over their data. Apple's privacy-focused actions, which are consistent with its reputation as a privacy advocate, might also have a dual purpose: by promoting user privacy, the brand strengthens its appeal among privacy-conscious consumers, an approach that could potentially boost iPhone sales. However, upcoming privacy regulations have definitely played a significant part in pushing these decisions, as companies such as Apple traverse the maze of consumer privacy laws and evolving market expectations. Additionally, Google has recently modified its approach, proposing a Chrome update that would let users actively manage third-party cookies rather than fully eliminating them, thereby balancing privacy needs with industry demands for flexibility and user choice through Privacy Sandbox APIs.

For publishers, the loss of third-party cookies is more than just a technical issue; it has major financial consequences. Many publishers rely on targeted advertising for revenue. Without being able to track users around the web, their ability to provide relevant, personalized ads is limited, resulting in an overall decline in ad effectiveness. Lower ad engagement leads to fewer clicks and conversions, resulting in lower ad revenue for publishers. Finding appropriate identity solutions becomes a top priority for publishers who wish to continue monetising their content through advertising.

The need for identification solutions is clear: publishers must come up with new ways to identify users and offer relevant ads while abiding by privacy regulations. Without these solutions, publishers risk losing their competitive edge and experiencing a big drop in ad revenue.

Publift's Identity Solution Partnerships

Publift works with a number of identity solution providers to activate cookieless environments, and address our publisher inventory:

Liveramp ATS --> rampIDs
PAIR through Liveramp
The Trade Desk UID2 through Liveramp
Shared ID
Criteo ID
ID5
Lotame Panorama ID

RampID‍

RampID, powered by LiveRamp's Identity Graph, is a deterministic identity solution that utilises a people-based mapping solution that connects offline touchpoints to online devices. Liveramp uses its AbiliTec technology that allows RampID to merge disparate offline PII like names and addresses into unified identities while linking online devices to pseudonymous identifiers. ‍

PAIR ID

‍The PAIR (Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation) ID system is developed by Google and for use with Display and Video 360 (DV360). PAIR enables advertisers and publishers to reconcile their first party data by converting PII into encrypted identifiers. Since it was developed as a solution for Google’s DSP DV360, the ID can only be used for Google’s DSP within the publisher/advertiser relationship. However, publishers can use PAIR with any SSP connected with DV360. A publisher will have to form a relationship with an advertiser that they want to pair with and the encrypted data can only be used within the specific business arrangement. The value in 'pairid' local storage/cookie entry will be combined with IDs provided by cleanroom Liveramp. This is used on publisher domains running Liveramp. This functionality is particularly useful for publishers using their own data collection methodologies, such as enterprise-level publishers.‍

The Trade Desk UID2

‍The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) uses directly identifying information (DII) such as an email or phone number from a user that visits a publisher website. It then performs a salt, hash, and encryption process before returning the UID token. The publisher will then store the UID2 token so that it can be shared with SSPs during real-time bidding. The SSP will then put the bid request with the UID2 token into the bidstream.‍

Shared ID

‍The SharedID ID system works by setting a user ID cookie in the publisher’s domain. As the cookie is set in the publisher’s first party domain, it does not fall in scope of browser restrictions on third party cookies. This is managed by Prebid and is widely accepted by Prebid Bidders. This solution enhances targeting when sending requests to the DSPs.‍

ID5

‍ID5 is a probabilistic identifier that allows for establishing cross-device and cross-browser connections. Using soft signals like IP addresses and user agents, ID5 creates and distributes a shared 1st party identifier to the advertising ecosystem. ID5 encrypts the user’s ID to ensure the privacy preferences of the end user and publisher. DSPs can increase bid density as part of a strategy to enhance ad targeting without relying on cookies. In the case of ID5, it uses JavaScript that probabilistically matches users to their own pools of identified users. This allows us to set IDs on browsers that are privacy-conscious regarding cookies and make these IDs available to DSPs through the bid requests.‍

Criteo ID

‍Calling the Criteo ID allows publishers to access Criteo’s DSP and bidders which make up more than 20,000 advertisers and brands. This allows publishers to grow bid density. Criteo’s cookie runs through the Criteo bid adapter.‍

Lotame Panorama ID

‍The Lotame Panorama ID utilises its patented graphic technologies to maintain and extend critical data connections and portability across domains and devices. It is a hybrid deterministic and probabilistic solution that enables cookieless activation using signals such as device identifiers, associated individual behaviours, and privacy choices.

These identity solutions are currently implemented via our Yield Experiments framework. The Yield Experiments arm is made up of a team that ideates and conducts experiments to test new methods of finding ad revenue. Currently, our publishers have the experiments running on a sample of their traffic – our team automatically adjusts the scale of the experiment based on its performance and customer adoption.

First-Party Data and Contextual Targeting

As third-party cookies fade into the background, first-party data emerges as a valuable tool for publishers. First-party data is information collected directly from users who visit a publisher's website or engage with its content. This can include information from user registrations, subscriptions, and other interactions that take place on the publisher's platform. First-party data is useful since it is obtained with the user's consent, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. More importantly, first-party data is usually more accurate as well as reliable than third-party data because it comes directly from the source.

Publift is at the forefront of helping publishers in using their first-party data to retain targeted advertising capabilities in a cookie-less environment. Publishers can still send personalized ads to their target demographic by collecting their data themselves. First-party data enables greater accuracy in targeting because it is based on actual user behavior and interactions on the publisher's website. Publishers may use Publift's tools and expertise to easily integrate first-party data into their ad strategy, ensuring that their ads are effective and relevant.

Publift also offers contextual targeting, which is a vital solution. This approach differs from regular cookie-based targeting in that it does not involve tracking individual users across websites. Instead, contextual targeting focuses on the content of the web page that the user is now viewing. Ads are then served based on the page's context, not the user's behavior. For example, if a person is reading an article about gardening, they might encounter ads for gardening tools or similar products, regardless of their browsing history.

Contextual targeting is privacy-friendly because it does not involve the collection of personal information or tracking across different websites. It also addresses the growing demand for more transparent and respectful data practices. However, it remains a highly effective method of serving relevant ads because the ads are adapted to the content with which the user is now engaged. Publift assists publishers in implementing contextual targeting solutions, allowing them to continue offering relevant and privacy-compliant ads.

Publift works with a variety of third-party identity vendors to provide additional solutions for publishers. These partnerships enable Publift to provide a diverse range of identity solutions that aid publishers in addressing the difficulties of a cookie-less world while maintaining their ability to target users effectively.

Publift's Testing and Optimization Framework

Publift is continuously testing and optimizing strategies to boost publishers' revenue by experimenting with different variables. In this evolving cookie-less world, ensuring efficient monetization without compromising user privacy is essential.

Given the critical role of targeting in digital advertising, Publift's Identity Yield Experiments help publishers evaluate the effectiveness of various identity solutions by assessing and comparing their impact on revenue.

By analyzing and sharing the results of these experiments with our publishers, we can make more informed decisions that drive long-term revenue growth while adapting to the evolving ad tech landscape.

Benefits of Publift Supported Identity Solutions

As privacy regulations tighten and targeting capabilities diminish, adopting identity solutions has become vital for publishers to remain competitive. Publift recognizes the significance of these shifts and has developed a framework of Identity Yield Experiments to help publishers navigate this evolving landscape while optimizing revenue.

Key Benefits for Publishers

Increased CPMs:

One of the primary advantages of integrating identity solutions is the potential for significantly increased CPMs. By using identity solutions, publishers can continue to serve personalized and relevant ads without relying on cookies. Advertisers, confident their ads will reach the right audience, bid higher, which increases the value of the ad space. Through Publift's Identity Yield Experiments, we have already seen substantial uplifts in CPMs for publishers who have adopted these solutions.

Better Ad Relevancy:

Identity solutions fill the gap left by third-party cookies by providing a way to identify users. This enables advertisers to deliver highly relevant ads based on user preferences and behavior. When ads are more relevant, user engagement increases, leading to better performance metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates.

Compliance with Privacy Regulations:

With rising privacy concerns, publishers need to comply with global regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Identity solutions are designed to comply with these privacy standards, ensuring that user data is protected while still allowing for personalized advertising. By implementing these solutions, publishers can continue offering personalized ads without the risk of legal issues.

Success Stories

Publift’s Identity Yield Experiments are grounded in testing and optimizing identity solutions to increase publisher revenue. A notable success has been the integration of CriteoID across 374 publisher accounts. From March 2024 onwards, 81% of the publishers experienced a positive impact, leading to an average revenue uplift of 1.5%.

Building on this success, Publift has expanded its testing framework to other third-party identity vendors, including ShareID, one of the most promising identity solutions in Publift’s identity stack. Initially deployed in September 2024 across a sample of traffic, we have seen some promising results throughout October. Over the past month, we have seen that 82% of the aforementioned publishers have experienced a positive uplift in revenue, with an average uplift of 3.2%.

These findings highlight the importance of adopting identity solutions and illustrate how impactful they can be when integrated effectively.

Final Thoughts

The digital advertising industry is approaching a tipping point. Publishers must adapt to new methods of identifying and targeting users as third-party cookies become less prevalent. The good news is that there are solutions that can help publishers manage this transition and survive in a cookie-less world. First-party data, contextual targeting, and identity solutions provide a path forward, enabling publishers to maintain ad relevancy and performance while protecting user privacy.

Publift is committed to assisting publishers in adopting these new technologies and methods. By working closely with publishers to integrate first-party data solutions, contextual targeting, and partnerships with identity providers, Publift ensures that publishers can continue to offer high-quality ads that resonate with their audience. As privacy regulations evolve, publishers need to stay ahead of the curve. Publishers who use Publift supported identity solutions may preserve their revenue, user privacy, and remain competitive in the ever-changing digital advertising landscape.

Publift helps digital publishers get the most out of the ads on their websites. Publift has helped its clients realize an average 55% uplift in ad revenue since 2015, through the use of cutting-edge programmatic advertising technology paired with impartial and ethical guidance.