The Trade Desk to Hand Control of Unified ID 2.0 to Prebid

The Trade Desk is handing over control of Unified ID 2.0, a possible replacement to third-party cookies, to Prebid, a nonprofit organization working to standardize programmatic monetization. By the second quarter of 2021, Prebid will independently operate the technical infrastructure of Unified ID 2.0 and monitor the use of the technology. The goal is to ensure impartial oversight of the open-source identifier, which has gained serious traction from publishers and ad-tech companies since The Trade Desk first announced it was building Unified ID 2.0 last July. The Trade Desk introduced the first iteration of its Unified ID in 2018, and it gained wide adoption despite ruffling the feathers of competing demand-side platforms. Following Google’s announcement to rid its Chrome browser of third-party cookies by 2022, The Trade Desk had to rework its cookie-reliant audience identifier, so it created an open-source identity framework and enlisted the help of the ad industry to build and scale version 2.0 that will rely on email addresses gathered from publisher logins. As a neutral administrator of the technology, Prebid chairman Tom Kershaw said Unified ID 2.0 is no longer dependent on any single company. Kershaw added that the nonprofit’s mix of stakeholders means the industry is more inclined to trust and use the identifier. “I think a lot of DSPs are going to breathe a real sigh of relief here, that this is the real thing, and we can trust it and we can build on it,” he said. Prebid is predominantly made up of publishers and supply-side platforms, though the organization is adding more buy-side companies, including Havas Media and DSPs MediaMath and The Trade Desk. Publishers had previously called for independent control of Unified ID 2.0, citing concerns that The Trade Desk, which ultimately represents the interest of marketers, wouldn't be able to govern the solution without bias. Though specifications for Unified ID 2.0 are still being finalized, email addresses gathered from publishers will be encrypted as they pass along the digital supply chain. The administrator of the technology—now Prebid—will be managing that process and doling out encryption keys to eligible intermediaries. Unified ID 2.0 will also include a code of conduct to ensure only intermediaries with permission are using and sharing the data associated with the identifier. Kershaw said those guidelines need to be fleshed out, and there will likely be contributions from the IAB and PRAM. “Prebid.org's commitment will ensure independent third party management of Unified ID 2.0 and that it will continue to be developed, based on open source principles, in the best interests of the marketing industry and its consumers,” Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk CTO and Prebid board member, said in a statement. Prebid also operates SharedID. Kershaw said the two identifiers are complementary, since Unified ID 2.0 covers authenticated web traffic, while SharedID, which isn’t reliant on logins, covers anonymous web traffic. Kershaw said the goal is to have marketers buying on Unified ID 2.0 by the middle of the year, leaving only two quarters until Chrome's third-party cookie countdown clock strikes zero. "The timing is tight, and we do everything we can to accelerate this, which is why we're excited about this announcement because it symbolizes the end of the talking and the planning, and the beginning of the actual doing," he said.