Some of the biggest names in the Australian media industry will soon be experimenting with a new online identifier, after The Trade Desk announced Beta testing of the Unified ID 2.0 in Australia.
Although it is now being operated by Prebid.org, The Trade Desk first came up with the Unified ID 2.0 solution as a cookieless identifier tied to hashed and encrypted email addresses.
Making the announcement, The Trade Desk general manager James Bayes [pictured] said the new identifier will look to improve the advertising experience for advertisers, publishers and consumers.
“As third-party cookies go away, the industry is under pressure to adopt a fairer identity solution. It’s clear that we need to come together to create an upgraded solution that’s more secure, better explains the value exchange of the internet to consumers, and improves consumer controls.
“That’s what’s driving beta testing of Unified ID 2.0 here in Australia as the industry looks to a new common currency for the internet that improves the experience for everyone – advertisers, publishers and consumers alike.”
ARN, Southern Cross Austereo, Unruly, Criteo, Index Exchange, LiveRamp, Magnite, Nielsen, OpenX and PubMatic are among the companies Beta testing the new solution.
Globally, The Trade Desk has been doing proof-of-concept testing of the Unified ID 2.0 since midway through last year and announced Beta testing in the United States last month.
Interest around the Unified ID 2.0 picked up earlier this year, when Google announced it would not be using any alternative methods to track users online once cookies are deprecated.
Google added that it did not believe solutions based on email addresses “will meet rising consumer expectations for privacy”.
However, The Trade Desk has been supportive of Google’s decision to end online tracking, with company founder and chairman commenting: “this will be remembered as a great day for the future of the open internet”.
