THE TRADE DESK IS CONTRIBUTING UID 2.0 FOR OPEN-SOURCE DEVELOPMENT

On May 24th, The Trade Desk announced that it would contribute their Unified ID 2.0 code to the Technical Working Group of the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media (PRAM) run by IAB Tech Lab. This project will adhere to IAB Tech Lab’s technical standards and guidelines. 

The Trade Desk was busy during the pandemic lockdown. In the summer of 2019, they introduced the UID 2.0 proposal to the IAB Tech Lab Addressability Working Group.

At the present time, The Trade Desk is working closely with partners to fully test, and execute the service, as it is outlined in the latest UID 2.0 specification. The Trade Desk promises to be an active contributor to the open-source project.

Potential benefits to Digital advertising

With third-party cookies being phased out, the industry is looking for innovative ways to link digital visitors and allow both advertisers and publishers to operate in a privacy respectful way. UID 2.0 main purpose is to give advertisers and publishers a standard that will power visitor links, where allowed by consent or law. To be clear, UID 2.0 is not meant to be a replacement for third-party cookies. However, it is an alternative “addressability” tool that is gaining traction.

UID 2.0 will be a new tool that will enable a direct visitor link. This tool will benefit advertisers and publishers. 

• Adhere more closely to new privacy and compliance mandates
• Support attribution conversions and simplify ROI reporting
• Prevent audience fatigue by enabling management of frequency caps and recency
• Allow publishers, marketers, and data providers to develop innovative targetable audience segments

The elegance of UID 2.0’s design is that it allows publishers and advertisers to interact with several independent and proprietary ID resolution providers. The openness of UID 2.0 is what makes it so elegant. The more independent ID providers join in, the more useful UID 2.0 will become. This would be a win-win situation for all.

The roadmap for UID 2.0

• In the near future, the roles of the “Administrator” and “Auditors” will need to be identified and assigned. Key UID 2.0 services still need to find responsible and accountable owners. It seems like IAB Tech Lab may be the leading candidate for the “Administrator” role. 
• A key goal is to ensure UID 2.0 has technical accountability mechanisms like the “Accountability Platform” in place. This will offer standard data structures, for third parties consistency and transparency.  
• The UID 2.0 addressability solutions will continue to evolve to meet market and privacy needs.

The objective is to learn everything I can about UID 2.0 and prepare my organization to leverage this new addressability solution within our product offerings. There have been a lot of changes and announcements around third-party cookies and addressability in digital advertising. Make sure to research and learn about all the upcoming innovations. Prepare your company to participate in this evolving digital advertising ecosystem. 

Summary:

• This now gives ownership of UID 2.0 to an entire industry. As with any open-source project, everyone is able to propose new features, capabilities and updates.
• The Trade Desk will stay closely involved in the evolution and promotion of UID 2.0.
• This will revolutionize the industry and offer an even playing field for open collaboration and competition. 
• IAB Tech Lab is working on finalizing the technical standards and guidelines for addressability, privacy, and accountability.
• There are other expected addressability solutions to be carried forward through PRAM.
• The development and releases will be overseen by IAB Tech Lab’s Addressability Working Group