Commentary

Equifax Considering New Data Segments After Announcing Eyeota Partnership

It’s not a surprise that the data industry is undergoing major changes after several high-profile consumer data leaks and tightening of regulations with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now more than a year old, and California’s data privacy law taking effect in January 2020.

Data companies are looking for new and emerging data sources and partnerships. Jeff Sporn, chief digital officer for Equifax’s data-driven marketing division, said the “industry is going through an evolution, turbulent times, with the concern over consumer privacy and the use of cookies.”

The changes will have an effect on behavioral tracking data, he said. It’s not something that Equifax uses, but Sporn believes it creates opportunities for the company.

“We continue to look at first-party data for voids or vacuums,” he said. “We are finding the specifics on spending to be very valuable. It’s not something Equifax has organically, but we have found partners to work with that do.”

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Equifax plans to roll out new audience segments that the marketplace lacks. Years ago, the company sold off its demographic data segment because too many companies also offered this data.

“I’m seeing more companies become increasingly picky on the type of data they integrate, offer and sell,” he said.

Eyeota, an audience technology platform that enables the intelligent use of data, became Equifax’s latest partner in the U.S. earlier this month to capitalize on mostly economic and financial anatomized consumer data. Eyeota will use Equifax marketing data and integrate it into its platform.

The data is available through companies such as Verizon Media, Trade Desk, MediaMath. Equifax has worked for years with Oracle Data cloud since it was BlueKai, as well as LiveRamp, which also distributes the data.

The data is used for display advertising as well as addressable TV. Eyeota works to curate its data with Equifax data.

This expanded relationship makes Equifax DDM's digital consumer segments under its IXI Digital data exchange available through the Eyeota Audience Marketplace. The IXI data segments come from banks and brokerages, creating an exchange and supporting about 100 companies.

In addition, there is economic data, which comes from many sources. None include survey data.

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