On May 20th, Gavin Dunaway from AdMonsters hosted the webinar, “Debunking Authentication Myths,” featuring LiveRamp’s SVP and Head of Publishing, Jason White, along with Chris Guenther, SVP, Global Head of Programmatic, News Corp, and Jeremy Steinberg, Global Head of Ecosystem, MediaMath.
The two discussed strategies for acquiring first-party authentications to maintain a fair-value exchange on the open internet. Authentication is the process in which an individual confirms their identity, for example, by providing their email address or phone number to a brand or publisher. The act of direct or “first-party authentication” happens via a sign-up and requires participation and consent from the individual—a clear signal that an active and value exchange is occurring.
Why? Because when an individual offers data in exchange for something they care about, such as content or services from a publisher or brand, it builds a trusted first-party relationship. From there, data can be used appropriately, ethically, and with the right permissions to deliver better services, experiences, and ongoing engagement.
Authenticated traffic has been a hot topic in the advertising ecosystem due to the acknowledgment that the use of third-party cookies as an identifier eroded trust with individuals. This led to Google’s announcement that third-party cookie support will come to an end in less than two years, and escalated the conversation of what comes next for publishers and advertisers.
One of the myths Jason debunked was the viability of other solutions out there that solve for the advertiser’s core use cases that are not rooted in deterministic identity. Here’s what Jason outlined:
In addition to debunking myths, the panel discussed a variety of topics, including match rates vs. find rates, omnichannel reach and measurement, the open web versus walled gardens, and most importantly, privacy. On that last topic, Chris had this to say:
You know, it used to be when you negotiated a contract with a vendor, the most amount of time you would spend was on the commercial terms. That has been replaced by negotiation on the privacy components. We’ve been working in an ecosystem that was never designed with privacy in mind. I think that’s a critical thing to think about.
I think all publishers, whomever we’re going to work with, whatever technologies we’re going to work with, and however we’re approaching the experience on our site, we all have privacy in mind. It’s not just because of the regulatory environments. Obviously, that’s a big catalyst to make sure that we’re in compliance with GDPR or CCPA, or whatever other state-by-state acronyms you have for these regulations. But it’s also that we have an appreciation of our relationship with our users. They’re coming to our sites, so we have a responsibility to make sure that we put their privacy first.
Interested in learning what other myths were debunked? Check out the full webinar here.