Did Google just kill universal identifiers?
Trey Titone
March 04, 2021
Google set the ad tech world ablaze when they announced that they will not support any universal identifier solutions meant to replace cookies. David Temkin, The Director of Product Management, Ads Privacy and Trust, at Google wrote:
Today, we’re making explicit that once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.
And just like that, Google thrust all universal identifier / cookieless solutions under a microscope for closer inspection and scrutiny. If the 300-pound gorilla of digital advertising is dismissing alternate identifiers, should the rest of the industry follow suit?
With this announcement, Google declares that they will not support The Trade Desk / PreBid Unified ID 2 nor the LiveRamp Authenticated Traffic Solution / IdentityLink anywhere in their ad stack. Both of these alternate id solutions intend to preserve individual user tracking by using email addresses to replace cookies.
Google is doubling down on the efficacy of their Privacy Sandbox Initiatives like FLoC and TURTLEDOVE as a viable alternative to cookies and a more privacy-conscious path forward:
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