Deterministic IDs: What Will They Take to Break Through?
The open internet is becoming increasingly interconnected through deterministic IDs. Verena Gründel shares her take on what needs to happen next to turn this potential into reality.
The Infrastructure Is Ready, but Advertisers Are Hesitating
What if the patchwork quilt of the open internet were to become a vast, interwoven advertising ecosystem?
It’s the dream scenario for many advertisers! In reality, it’s now taking shape more and more in Germany. Yet advertisers are hesitant. Why is that?
Horizont has provided an excellent summary of what has happened so far:
- A year ago, Kristina Bulle, CMO of Procter & Gamble DACH, called for the open Internet to be connected into an ecosystem via deterministic IDs in an interview with Horizont.
- P&G ran a test campaign in collaboration with the marketers Ad Alliance, Seven-One Media, and the media agency Pilot. The results are positive: the technical setup works for both small and large campaigns.
- The retail group Rewe, along with its subsidiary Penny, is also pushing this initiative and testing the identifier from Utiq, and soon NetID as well.
- At the same time, the Online Marketers’ Association (OVK) within the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW) has developed a guidance system complete with a standardized deal nomenclature so that ID-based campaigns can be booked and recognized across publishers.
- Various advertisers are currently running test campaigns using the OVK’s guidance system.
“The guidance system is in place and works very well. (…) With deterministic IDs, we’re close to the optimal solution,” says Daniel Pölkemann (Media Impact), deputy OVK chairman, in the interview with Horizont.
Yet, advertisers are hesitant. Media expert Christian Bachem explains the reasons in a LinkedIn thread: In his view, this comes from a lack of knowledge about how ID solutions work and their benefits, a fear of their perceived complexity, and concerns about the risks of not making optimal use of the budget.
As a result, very little revenue is currently being generated through this infrastructure.
“People are waiting for perfection (…),” says Kristian Meinken, CEO of Pilot Group. “Over-engineering is the real stumbling block, not the technology itself.”
So now it’s up to the advertisers: Test it, book it, get involved. The open internet needs demand in order to scale.
