Advertiser ID Consortium integrates with IAB Tech Lab’s DigiTrust ID

On Tuesday, the Advertising ID Consortium announced it will integrate with the IAB Tech Lab’s DigiTrust ID to give members more options in the open ID services available for addressable browser-based ad targeting.

The Advertising ID Consortium was founded last year by AppNexus, MediaMath and Acxiom’s LiveRamp. The Consortium uses LiveRamp’s IdentityLink technology. Index Exchange soon replaced MediaMath in the list of founding members, and MediaMath joined DigiTrust in March, noting it is “an independent, neutral entity.” The IAB Tech Lab acquired now three-year-old nonprofit DigiTrust in April.

Both initiatives are aimed at providing standardized device IDs for targeting digital ads to users across their separate devices. With the use of a common ID or cookie by vendors, cookie syncing to resolve user identity across devices and channels can be expedited. Whereas Google and Facebook have their own identity solutions (user logins), publishers and ad exchanges operating outside of the so-called walled gardens all used their own identifiers, making identity messy and slow. The open identity frameworks are the industry’s solution to the problem.

The integration means Advertising ID Consortium’s solution now includes the following common domains or cookie IDs: the Consortium’s LiveRamp-powered Open Ad-ID (adnxs.com), The Trade Desk’s Unified Open ID (adsrvr.org) and the DigiTrust ID (digitru.st).

“As the Advertising ID Consortium expands across markets, we are giving our partners flexibility of choice in their technology infrastructure,” said Mike O’Sullivan, senior director, product, Index Exchange, in the announcement. “The addition of a third common domain through DigiTrust, a well-known and trusted coalition of key independent publishers and platforms, amplifies our scale and reach for the ultimate benefit of consumers. We’ve done a tremendous amount of education separately on the importance of reducing user sync activity, and we’re pleased to join forces for an improved digital experience.”