Building a First-Party Identity Graph: A Publisher’s Roadmap

As a publisher, creating a robust first-party identity graph is crucial for effectively connecting with your audience, personalizing experiences, and adhering to privacy regulations.

This guide will walk you through the critical steps in constructing a successful first-party data graph.

Step 1: Assess Your Resources - In-House or Outsourced?

Before diving into the data graph journey, deciding whether to build the technology in-house or seek external expertise is essential. Consider the following factors:

In-House Development:

• Skills and Resources: Evaluate your internal capabilities. Do you have a proficient team handling data infrastructure, analytics, and privacy compliance?
• Understanding of First-Party Assets: Ensure your team comprehends the value of first-party data within your publisher stack.
• Time: Can your existing team manage the pipeline, optimization, synchronization, and maintenance of the first-party data graph without compromising urgent monetization tasks?

Outsourcing:

• Technology Partners: If you choose to outsource, select a reliable technology partner that provides the necessary tools, guidance, and transparency regarding data usage.
• Data Collection and Enrichment: Ensure your partner collects and enriches data from user interactions while understanding how they utilize it.
• Trust: Trust your vendor and verify their transparency regarding data handling and their legal track record.

For most publishers, a combination of leveraging external vendors while protecting their data assets is a practical solution, given the rapidly changing adtech landscape.

Step 2: Initial Uses of Data

Once you've made the resourcing decisions, the next step is to determine how to leverage the data in the short-term to address current challenges and build long-term products around it. Here are various ways to utilize this data:

• Bid Enrichment: Consider incorporating Universal IDs (UIDs) into bid requests by managing them in-house or partnering with technology experts.
• Contextual Data: Use contextual signals to enhance targeting and improve ad relevance.
• Leveraging Hashed Emails: Explore opportunities to sync hashed email data with SSPs to boost bid density and revenue.
• Custom Segmentation: Build private marketplace transactions by mapping first-party data elements to SSPs for increased inventory.
• DMP Integration: Sync data with Data Management Platforms (DMPs) for monetization opportunities, but be cautious about data leakage risks.

Emerging Trends:

• Seller-Defined Audiences (SDAs): Prepare for the eventual demand for SDAs by considering partnerships with vendors offering curation services.
• Buyer-Defined Audience: Enable brands and agencies to create custom targeting recipes based on your first-party data ingredients.

Conclusion:

Building a first-party data graph involves strategic planning, technology selection, and possibly partnerships with external providers. It's a necessary pivot for publishers in a post-cookie world, offering advantages like privacy compliance and personalized user experiences. With careful planning and the right partners, you can navigate this transition successfully and position your business for long-term success.