The Trade Desk is looking for the industry’s stamp of approval for the open source Unified ID 2.0 framework.
On Thursday, in response to a recent call from the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media (PRAM) for input on potential new technologies to replace cookies and other identifiers, The Trade Desk submitted the code for UID 2.0 for review by the industry org.
TTD is the first company to take PRAM up on its appeal.
Launched in August, PRAM is an industrywide initiative that brings together more than 400 advertisers, trade orgs, agencies, publishers and ad tech companies. Together, they plan to create new digital media standards that consider both privacy and the user experience.
Last week, PRAM said it’s seeking contributions in the form of “addressability code for collaborative development,” which is a rather formal way of saying, “Hey, industry folks, got any ideas for cookie or IDFA alternatives up your sleeve?”
As one of the most high-profile examples of such an alternative, Unified ID 2.0 has been picking up a lot of momentum over the past three months.
After doing the initial development work on the ID, which was built based on the IAB Tech Lab’s Project Rearc principles, The Trade Desk shifted focus to gaining adoption. To scale the UID 2.0, it’s onboarded new participants, including LiveRamp, PubMatic, Criteo, Magnite, The Washington Post and, most recently, SpotX.
Submitting code to PRAM is an important next step toward solidifying the UID 2.0’s desired status as a collective, industry-approved identity solution.
Another big milestone on the UID 2.0 agenda will be to determine which independent, neutral entity or entities will administer the ID once the functional aspects work at scale.
It’s unclear right now who will fill that role, but getting PRAM’s neutral, third-party seal of approval would help The Trade Desk along that path.
PRAM’s 400-strong membership is a who’s who of the advertising ecosystem, including the Association of National Advertisers, the IAB, AT&T, Mastercard, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, NBCU, Publicis Media, UM, LiveRamp, MediaMath and The Trade Desk.
According to PRAM’s executive director, Bill Tucker, PRAM will now review the code and solicit feedback from a broad group of developers across the industry.
PRAM will not officially endorse or approve the code until it’s passed off to a third party or parties a la how Integral Ad Science contributed its code for the open measurement SDK to the IAB Tech Lab in 2017. The hope is to complete that process at some point this quarter or early next.
