Advertising’s solution to the privacy dilemma: anonymised targeting

As the advertising industry slowly wakes up to the inevitability of a cookieless future, dozens of ‘identity solutions’ have flooded the market - but none give advertisers the reach, targeting and compliance they need. “We have always had a different approach to the end of cookies. From the get-go, we decided that personal data had to be removed from the advertising equation and we built an amazing bit of tech that does just that, while allowing marketing to be just as effective” says Mattia Fosci, CEO and co-founder of Anonymised. “But the name ID Ward was just not conveying how fundamentally different our technology and philosophy are. We were just bundled together with a bunch of identity solutions that we don’t share anything with”. Brands, publishers and media agencies are operating in a landscape of falling consent rates, shrinking audiences and decreasing revenues. Anonymised gives forward-thinkers three distinct advantages over other options on the market. The first is the ability to reach 100% of audiences, not just those logged ones, using a persistent cross-domain identifier that tracks and anonymises user behaviour across all browsers and devices. The second is the ability to target and retarget using granular data increasing accuracy and ROI. And the third is the ability to be fully compliant with GDPR and emerging privacy regulations by keeping personal data at the edge and replacing it with anonymised data.

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Introducing Anonymised

Anonymised targeting is the process that underpins the Anonymised platform. In essence, it allows advertisers to reach a specific audience without collecting personal data. A consent-based cross-domain identifier tracks user behaviour across all browsers and devices, but the user data is stored locally on the user device. When advertisers build their segments, a machine learning model checks the data stored on the device and determines whether or not the user belongs to the segments. If the answer is positive, each segment is assigned a randomised, temporary and rotational string of numbers (the anonymous segment ID) which is used for targeting. Noise is added to prevent malicious re-identification from bad actors. Because no personal data has been shared with third parties, users can easily access, download and delete all of their data used for targeting from a single point of control, a dedicated interface that we called the Data Account. Unlike other methodologies out there, anonymised targeting provides two vital benefits: performance and compliance. No other method offers the ability to reach 100% of audiences using accurate targeting data that can be measured. Nor do they give the peace of mind that you’re 100% legally compliant by giving genuine control of personal data back to the user. Anyonymised gives you all this, meaning no more compromise.

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A new vision for the advertising industry

The shift to the new name Anonymised captures the key differences from others in the space and nails the company’s colour firmly on the mast of privacy. It also hopes to create a new vision for the industry: one where marketing performance can be successfully decoupled from the systematic use of personal data. As the industry searches for a light among the dark corners of data privacy, Anonymised aims to be not only a beacon for trust and transparency but also the proof that the end of cookies can usher in a new era of profitability. Anonymised challenges the idea of privacy as a threat to marketing effectiveness. "Essential advertising functions such as custom targeting, retargeting, lookalikes, frequency capping or campaign measurement can work better with anonymised data than they ever did with the cookie.” adds Fosci. “Whether it be in terms of reach, ROAS or brand equity, the potential upside is incredible - and the industry is in urgent need of change”.

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As ID Ward transitions to its new identity of Anonymised, nothing will change for our clients and users. The product will work in much the same way, the ID Ward website will redirect to the new Anonymised site, social media accounts will be updated, and everything will continue as before. But you can always check how our brand evolves on LinkedIn. If you‘d like to learn more about anonymised targeting and how it could benefit your business, check out the new Anonymised website and connect with the team. You can also follow our company page and connect with Mattia Fosci and Jon Caines on LinkedIn.