With third-party cookies and Android Advertising IDs (AAIDs) set to be phased out by Google, and Apple’s ID for Advertisers (IDFA) privacy updates already taking effect, web and mobile app publishers and advertisers are testing new approaches to addressability.

Alternative identifiers figure prominently as one such alternative for publishers and advertisers. However, more than 80 independent IDs are currently available, each requiring its own on-site tag, implementation, technical troubleshooting, and reporting capabilities, which makes things complicated. 

This short guide has been developed by experts from IAB Europe's Programmatic Trading Committee to help publishers and buyers get to grips with some of the technical standards that need to be considered in the ID market. It provides an educational resource on identity standards and some key considerations when looking to buy and apply ID solutions. 

It has been a collaborative effort to produce this first European-level Guide to Identity, focusing on technical standards and key considerations, with contributors including Adform, ID5, Index Exchange, Liveramp, Novatiq, PubMatic, Verve Group and Xandr.

A big thank you to the following contributors:

• Jurjen de Wal, Senior Product Director, Global Partnerships & Integrations, Adform
• Alexandre Nderagakura, Technical Director, IAB Europe
• Valbona Gjini, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, ID5
• Jamie Penkethman, Identity Product Marketing, Index Exchange
• Ryan Afshar, Head of Addressability, LiveRamp
• Tanya Field, Co-Founder and CPO, Novatiq
• Kofi Amoako, Regional Vice President, Addressability, EMEA, PubMatic
• Maria Shcheglakova, Marketing Director, EMEA PubMatic
• Janina Abou Al Ward, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Verve Group
• Josephine Howe, Senior Marketing Manager, Xandr

For more information on advertising identifiers, view and download our one-sheet 'What are Advertising Identifiers?' here.