The Trade Desk Hands UID 2.0 Code to PRAM

As part of an ongoing effort to build a replacement for third-party cookies, The Trade Desk is handing over code for Unified ID 2.0 to The IAB Tech Lab via the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media (PRAM). Code for UID 2.0, an identifier that relies on login details like email addresses and phone numbers, will be open-sourced and live in a publicly available GitHub page overseen by the Tech Lab. Anyone can then look through the code and suggest edits, which the Tech Lab will review and possibly implement. The Tech Lab runs the technical working group within PRAM, an umbrella group of trade bodies and major stakeholders within the online ad industry. The Trade Desk submitted UID 2.0 to PRAM for approval in January, and this is the conclusion of that process. “We'll still be very active,” Bill Michels, general manager of product at The Trade Desk, told Adweek. “We have ideas and things we want to add to it, and we feel comfortable … with the structure in place that we will keep the cadence that we have, and we'll be able to really stay agile and respond to market needs.” The Trade Desk, the largest independent demand-side platform, started building UID 2.0 on its own last summer as the digital ad industry at large scrambles to find a way to replace third-party cookies, which won’t be supported on Google’s market-leading Chrome browser come 2022. The Trade Desk Posts Q1 Revenues of $220 Million, Takes Aim at Google’s ‘Opaque Cohorts’ After moving quickly to build the identifier and find partners, The Trade Desk has been letting go of different aspects of UID 2.0 to larger industry bodies that have many voices in the room. “The goal is to have a really active, vibrant process to open issues or feature requests and figure out how to get them live into the code as quickly as we can,” said Alex Cone, vp of privacy and data protection at the Tech Lab. In February, the DSP handed operational control of UID 2.0 to Prebid, which means the group will act as the tool that converts encrypted emails and phone numbers into the identifier. The Trade Desk is still looking for an administrator (which will act as a registration point that lets companies use UID 2.0 in ad auctions) and a compliance manager (which will make sure those companies are following the rules when using the identifier). Michels said it will likely take several months to find an administrator and compliance manager, and that a code of conduct around UID 2.0 is still being developed. The Trade Desk has been aggressive in forming partnerships and spurring adoption of Unified ID 2.0, which it started building last summer. Companies like Criteo, Epsilon, FuboTV, LiveRamp, Nielsen, OpenAP and The Washington Post are among a growing number of companies across the digital supply chain testing or otherwise supporting the third-party cookie replacer.