Four days ago, on December 11, 2024, OpenX Technologies and ID5 announced significant developments in addressing the challenges of digital advertising reach across traditionally restricted browsers. According to the companies' joint announcement, their technical integration has demonstrated a 58% increase in reach across Safari desktop environments and a 37% increase in mobile web traffic compared to cookie-based solutions.
The partnership, which began in 2021, has evolved to address the growing complexity of digital advertising in environments where traditional tracking methods face limitations. According to Matt Sattel, chief revenue officer at OpenX, the declining effectiveness of cookie-based signals has created substantial challenges for both advertisers trying to engage audiences and publishers working to maximize revenue streams.
Technical implementation details reveal that the solution works by mapping ID5's identifiers to OpenX's identity graph. This integration enables advertisers to curate audiences using the ID5 ID in cookieless environments and activate campaigns through their preferred demand-side platform (DSP). The technology operates across multiple browsers, including Safari, Firefox, and Edge, which have historically presented challenges for digital advertising targeting.
The collaboration has expanded beyond its initial scope, which focused on passing the ID5 ID downstream for publisher addressability needs. The current iteration allows advertisers to target specific audiences across various channels while maintaining efficiency. This development is particularly significant given the industry's ongoing transition away from third-party cookies.
Mathieu Roche, chief executive officer and co-founder of ID5, emphasized three critical components of their approach: "The recipe for successful addressability has three key ingredients: performance, consumer trust, and collaboration." The partnership aims to balance these elements while addressing the technical challenges of signal loss in digital advertising.
The solution's architecture builds upon OpenX's cloud-based technology stack, which supports advertising across multiple channels including Connected TV (CTV), applications, mobile web, and desktop platforms. The company's infrastructure currently serves more than 130,000 premium publisher domains and interfaces with over 100,000 advertisers.
Statistical evidence of the partnership's effectiveness is demonstrated through initial testing results. When the ID5 ID is present, OpenX deals showed the aforementioned 58% increase in Safari desktop reach, indicating significant improvement in previously challenging environments. This performance metric provides concrete validation of the technical approach's effectiveness.
The implementation also considers publisher monetization strategies. Media owners can enhance their audience monetization capabilities while advertisers gain improved ability to reach their target audiences despite increasing signal loss in the digital advertising ecosystem. The system architecture supports these capabilities while maintaining consumer privacy preferences.
OpenX's technical foundation includes a 100% cloud-based technology stack, which the company leverages to power advertising across multiple channels. This infrastructure supports the new identity solution while maintaining the company's existing capabilities in supply-side curation, transparency, and sustainability initiatives.
ID5, established in 2017, brings its expertise in providing transparent, scalable, and privacy-compliant identity infrastructure to the partnership. Their solutions enable user recognition across media properties and devices, contributing to the technical framework that supports addressability across digital advertising channels.
The integration represents a significant technical advancement in addressing the challenges posed by signal loss in digital advertising, while maintaining focus on consumer privacy and advertiser effectiveness. The solution's architecture demonstrates the potential for maintaining advertising effectiveness in environments traditionally considered challenging for targeted advertising.
This development occurs against the backdrop of broader industry changes, as digital advertising continues to adapt to technical and regulatory requirements around user privacy and tracking capabilities. The partnership's approach suggests a potential technical framework for maintaining advertising effectiveness while respecting user privacy preferences in restricted browsing environments.