The Programmatic Glossary
A practical glossary designed to help marketers, advertisers and ad-tech professionals understand the terminology that powers programmatic advertising
Identity & Data
Identity Solution
Technology designed to identify and address users for advertising purposes without relying on third-party cookies. As cookies disappear, identity solutions provide alternative ways to match audiences, measure campaigns and personalise advertising.
HOW IT WORKS
Identity solutions use different approaches. Universal IDs are shared identifiers based on hashed email addresses. First-party data matching links a publisher's logged-in users with an advertiser's customer database. Probabilistic matching infers identity from device signals and behaviour patterns. Contextual signals target based on content rather than users at all.
EXAMPLE
A retailer wants to retarget users who browsed their website but did not buy. Without cookies, they use an identity solution based on their email database. When users who have shopped before visit a publisher's site and are logged in, the system matches them and serves the retargeting ad.
RELATED TERMS
Universal ID | First-Party Data | Third-Party Cookie | Contextual Targeting | DMP (Data Management Platform)
★ LIMELIGHT INSIGHT: Limelight supports first-party data and identity solution integrations to help publisher partners maintain targeting quality and CPM (Cost Per Mille) levels as the cookie ecosystem changes.
