Observed Signal · Oct 10, 2025 · Research Study · Source: Adzine · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Ad Industry Embraces Alternative IDs Post-Cookie Era
Despite Chrome's cookie phase-out, the digital advertising industry is increasingly relying on alternative identity solutions to connect data across a fragmented ecosystem. ID5's fifth State of Digital Identity Report, based on a June–July 2025 survey of more than 250 industry participants across EMEA, the US, Asia and Latin America, shows a global shift toward identity-driven approaches. It finds that 91% already use or plan to test cookie alternatives. For non-addressable traffic, the leading methods are alternative ID solutions (67%), private marketplaces with first-party data (57%), data clean rooms (51%), and cross-publisher IDs like Shared IDs (50%). Cross-channel identity graphs are used or planned by 84%, with 90% reporting positive results. The report highlights ID bridging, with more than half of publishers partnering on it, 21% planning to implement, and about 55% viewing results positively; privacy and consent management remain key considerations, especially for CTV.
Global survey indicates widespread adoption of alternative identity solutions and continued evolution of identity infrastructure in advertising.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- ID5's State of Digital Identity Report 2025 surveyed more than 250 industry participants across EMEA, the US, Asia and Latin America between June and July 2025.
- 91% of market participants already use or plan to test cookie alternatives.
- For non-addressable traffic, leading methods are alternative ID solutions (67%), private marketplaces with first-party data (57%), data clean rooms (51%), and cross-publisher IDs such as Shared IDs (50%).
- 84% operate or plan to test a cross-channel identity graph.
- 90% of respondents report positive results from their identity strategies.
Connected Companies & Entities
1 Entity mappedRelated Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Apple iOS 27 Blocks The Trade Desk from Serving Safari Ads
Apple's iOS 27, released on September 14, has blocked major programmatic data firms—including The Trade Desk, LiveRamp, ID5, Permutive, and Audigent—from serving ads or collecting data in Safari via a WebKit blocklist. This blocklist, dynamically updated through a private GitHub repository and WebKit code, prevents ad delivery on iPhones, iPads, and macOS 27.0.1, affecting CDPs, DMPs, and DSPs. Unlike ATT, which only limited cross-app tracking, this fully blocks ad delivery. Google may be exempt, raising competitive neutrality concerns. Some vendors like LiveIntent, Lotame, and ConnectID remain unaffected, but the block underscores the power imbalance between walled gardens and the open web, reducing publisher demand and shifting market composition. It follows regulatory actions in France, Italy, Germany, and a UK class action over ATT's competitive implications, with Germany's Bundeskartellamt concluding in mid-2026 with Apple commitments. The impact is currently limited due to low iOS 27 adoption, but signals long-term challenges for identity-based advertising.
Building Advertiser Analytics in a Post-Identifier World
An ExchangeWire blog post (published 2026-08-27) that lists hundreds of advertising vendors registered in an IAB TCF vendor/consent registry and details each vendor's declared consent purposes, legitimate-interest uses, special purposes, features, categories of data collected, data retention periods and consent/ cookie expiry/tracking methods. The page functions as a vendor transparency/consent directory tied to IAB TCF, showing how many AdTech/MarTech companies classify their data use and retention in a world moving away from device identifiers. It is primarily a technical/reference resource for advertiser analytics, privacy compliance and vendor inventory auditing.
IAB TCF Vendor List and Consent Disclosures Published
The ExchangeWire digest and registry page (published in August 2026) provides a primarily machine-readable IAB Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF 980) vendor disclosure listing dozens-to-hundreds of adtech, martech, measurement and publisher vendors. For each company the registry records declared Purposes (Consent vs Legitimate Interest), Special Purposes/Features, data categories processed (device, identifier, interaction, etc.), tracking methods, per-vendor consent expiry and data retention periods — including specific retention examples for some vendors. The alphabetical roster names major providers such as Branch Metrics, 33Across, Adobe Advertising Cloud/Audience Manager, Amazon Ads, Google Advertising Products, Criteo, LiveRamp and PubMatic. Intended as a machine-readable transparency resource for publishers, CMP operators and privacy/compliance teams, the page shows explicit publication timestamps in August 2026 (2026-08-12, 2026-08-13, 2026-08-19 and 2026-08-20).
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