Looking to curtail Facebook and Google's competitive advantage in people-based marketing, global ad-tech companies have set up a consortium to make targeting technologies available through a wide range of channels.
The initial group of companies in the consortium include AppNexus, LiveRamp, MediaMath, Index Exchange, LiveIntent, OpenX and Rocket Fuel.
"As the programmatic industry evolves to include the buying and selling of media across a variety of emerging channels, such as addressable TV and Internet of Things, there is a definite market need for a unique identifier that is neutral, and that can deliver the value that advertisers and agencies want without relying solely on Facebook and Google,” Tim Cadogan, CEO of OpenX, told Real-Time Daily via email.
With identity resolution a challenge in unifying marketing strategies across screens and devices, the new consortium will offer members access to an “identity framework built from pairing an encrypted version of an omnichannel, people-based identifier to a common, open cookie that resides on a shared, open domain,” according to Cadogan.
“The lack of a unique identifier to date has been one of the biggest factors in fueling concerns around transparency, fairness and control in the digital advertising ecosystem, as well as [limiting] marketers' ability to achieve optimal results with programmatic advertising,” added Cadogan. “This move to create a standard framework, while maintaining neutrality between players, is a big step in the right direction.”