IAB Seller Defined Audience And realtime Data Provider- Next Advertising Era
This new proposition doesn't have so much success, but it inspired other solutions, Let discover what they are.
From the latest episodes of Next Advertising Era, it's become evident to everyone that targeting is the industry's most pressing issue, more than measurement (to my great dismay). The IAB US step in to propose its own standard to assist the market: Seller Defined Audience.
The idea is quite straightforward and consists of three elements:
A shared taxonomy to define audiences.
A shared taxonomy to define the context.
A methodology for sharing.
The first two components, namely the IAB Content Taxonomy and IAB Audience Taxonomy, were already defined within the IAB . The only missing piece was a comprehensive method for activating. Concurrently, the IAB also defined the OpenRTB standard, serving as the foundational 'communication' protocol for all programmatic advertising. This necessitates that all key players in the ecosystem, including DSPs, SSPs, and Ad Networks, adopt and support this standard to guarantee seamless interoperability. Collaboratively, the IAB teams have successfully pinpointed an optimal approach to facilitate the sharing of new data within this protocol, enhancing the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the system.
With the new communication standards defined, it was necessary to bring that information from the user's browser to the programmatic auction, and here the Prebid consortium came into play, introducing the Prebid Realtime Data Provider modules.
The new standard required the collaboration of various working groups, but it has been launched and has opened up new opportunities, perhaps even unimagined before.
What is IAB Seller Defined Audience?
IAB Seller Defined Audiences (SDA) is a technical specification released by the IAB Tech Lab that allows publishers to monetize their audiences without having to use a unique ID or reveal a user's identity to advertisers. The specification was developed by the IAB Tech Lab to provide a solution to the increasing unavailability of third-party cookies, offering a privacy-focused alternative to ID-based identity solutions, like third-party cookies and universal ID solutions.
SDA works by segmenting a publisher's users based on predefined criteria, such as interests, demographics, purchase intentions, or context. These segments are then tagged with a unique ID, referring to the IAB Audience Taxonomy or IAB Content Taxonomy, used by advertisers for ad targeting.
The main benefits of SDA include:
Privacy: SDA doesn't require publishers to share users' personal data with advertisers. Instead, user data is segmented based on anonymous criteria.
Scalability: SDA can be used to segment users on any device or browser.
Interoperability: SDA is integrated with a range of standard advertising technologies, including Prebid and OpenRTB.
SDA is still relatively new but is rapidly gaining popularity among publishers and advertisers. It's seen as a way for publishers to monetize their audiences without compromising user privacy.
Beyond Seller Defined Audience
Using a predefined taxonomy allows for interoperability, but it is limiting in terms of uniqueness. Publishers and data providers will offer all the same audiences. Quality may vary, but differentiating exclusively through quality is challenging.
IAB's idea has been extended, allowing data providers to share other info beyond the IAB taxonomies. This may lose interoperability, but programmatic advertising isn't just about the open market: PMPs and Direct Deals generate a significant percentage of market revenue. For this reason, Prebid Realtime Data Provider modules are becoming increasingly successful: to date, there are 22 modules available in Prebid.
What is a Prebid Realtime Data Provider Module?
A Prebid Realtime Data Provider (RTDP) module is a software component that enables publishers to provide real-time data to bidders (SSP and DSP). The data provided by the RTDP module can be used by bidders for more accurate targeting and bidding decisions.
RTDP modules can be used to provide various data, including:
Demographic data, such as age, gender, and geographic location.
Interest data, such as purchasing interests and behaviors.
Retargeting data, such as a user's browsing history.
RTDP modules can be implemented in various ways, including:
Using a native SDK.
Using a web-based SDK.
Using a REST API.
RTDP modules are an important component of the Prebid.org platform. They allow publishers to provide real-time data to bidders, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Examples of Prebid RTDP modules include:
Anonymised: This module allows providing information related to segments created with the namesake platform, a completely GDPR compliant and 3rd party cookie-free solution.
LiveRamp: This module enables publishers to provide retargeting data from LiveRamp.
Lotame: This module allows publishers to provide interest data from Lotame.
RTDP modules are still relatively new but are quickly gaining popularity. They are expected to become a standard component of Prebid.org implementations in the coming years.
Conclusion
The introduction of Seller Defined Audience has paved the way for a burgeoning market, leveraging the capabilities extended by the OpenRTB standard and its associated modules. Amidst these developments, the integration of Protected Audience APIs emerges as a key innovation. These APIs enable browsers to identify their segment affiliations, thus facilitating targeted advertising strategies in environments where specific vendor technologies might be absent.
The key challenge with taxonomy sharing is that it requires real-time calculation whenever a user lands on a website. This means the necessary technology has to be in place on that specific site. Ad Exchanges initially emerged to enable reaching users in scenarios where a particular vendor's tech isn't present. To date, there's still no market standard that quite matches up to this need, but Protected Audience can be a starting point.
Previous Episode of: Next Advertising Era
Reading Suggestions
Be Data Literate by Jordan Morrow that is driving my professional choice
Present Beyond Measure: Design, Visualize, and Deliver Data Stories That Inspire Action by Lea Pica that is supporting my data storytelling
IAB Tech Lab Identity Solution guide from IAB to understand Alternative ID
Marketing in the messy middle Google's document to guide us through the Messy Middle, Mountain View's perspective on summarising the user's decision-making process.
IPA-PAM-ARA Comparison and Tradeoffs: This document contains the original comparison presented at TPAC among the different measurement proposal