Championing identity in the cookieless era with The Trade Desk

Future-proof innovations in targeting, personalization, and measurement

Since its inception, the Trade Desk has pioneered demand-side advertising. As media owners double down on quality content and prepare for the demise of cookies, the programmatic leader is positioned at the center of industry innovation and strives to solidify its position as a “portal for the premium internet.”

During a recent Adweek webinar, we sat down with Jennifer Ng, General Manager of Advertiser Insights at The Trade Desk, to discuss how the organization is navigating an increasingly complex ad-tech environment. She shares expert insights on why identity is the future of ad measurement, innovations in the open web and what it means for Adland, and why a test-and-learn mentality is paramount.

Q: Identity is at the heart of cookie alternatives. It also underpins The Trade Desk’s Unified ID Solution 2.0. Can you tell us about UID 2.0? 

UID 2.0 is an open-source, industry-wide approach to identity. It puts user control and user privacy at the forefront of advertising. We leverage AI-powered secure technology to encrypt and hash user emails to preserve their privacy and also facilitate relevant advertising. 

Transparency and objectivity are key to the health of the advertising ecosystem. UID 2.0 is open source so that it is freely available to the entire advertising ecosystem and interoperable with other technologies. With UID 2.0, our clients have experienced better targeting and measurement than they ever had with cookie-based solutions.

Q: Why are identity-based solutions so important in ad measurement specifically?

Advertisers need to have confidence that their media plan is driving the business outcomes they care about, whether that's sales or understanding the ROI. A direct source of identity to perform that measurement is important. Otherwise, you're just piecing together different parts of the story – different measurement solutions, different types of identity across different platforms – but you're not understanding the bigger picture. Identity-based, deterministic measurement helps you get there. It's an important part of the full flywheel of measurement so that you're learning and you're developing insights from those learnings.

Q: What value does DISQO’s fully consented, identity-based platform enable for The Trade Desk?

DISQO's methods have always been a really great fit, allowing us to measure programmatic omnichannel media and inventory… and to measure across the funnel. The fully consented platform is also super important to us. Privacy and transparency are part of our ethos, so that plays a crucial role in how we think about measurement solutions.

DISQO offers a strong, identity-based platform that is not reliant on cookies, opportunity-to-see, or other methods that don’t work well for an omnichannel or programmatic environment.

Q: What advice would you give brands to future-proof their strategies?

Make sure that you are clear on how your agencies and your partners are planning for the future. Investigate what solutions they use, understand how they work together, and come up with a plan to test those solutions. Don't do it blindly. 

You should also have a definitive plan to reach your own consumers. Build your first-party data or partner with other consented audience solutions, so that you can reach them and measure against them appropriately. Then, test and iterate to learn what's working well for you and your business. 

Get more expert insights from top industry pros!

Listen to the full webinar recording for more from Jennifer and her co-panelist, Lee Beale, Managing Partner at Crossmedia. Jennifer and Lee share their thoughts on retail media networks, the importance of independence in the highly competitive advertising landscape, and much more. Watch the full webinar here!