Publishers have seen the end of third-party cookies coming for a couple of years now. Google initially planned to phase them out by 2022, then pushed it to 2024, and now? The full deprecation is delayed yet again to early 2025. The reason? Industry concerns, regulatory hurdles, and a lot of unanswered questions.
Irrespective of when the cookie is deprecared, it is wise to implement your own first-party data. If you’re someone who still relies on third-party data for monetization, it’s high time you thought about PPIDs.
Publisher Provided Identifier (PPID) allows publishers to leverage first-party data for better ad targeting and revenue optimization—without violating privacy regulations. Without it, you risk weaker audience targeting, lower ad revenue, and a fragmented user experience.
So, what exactly is PPID, and how can it future-proof your ad monetization strategy? Let’s break it down.
What are PPIDs?
PPID is an anonymous, alphanumeric code that lets you recognize and segment users without relying on third-party cookies or personal data. What sets it apart from cookies is that it’s encrypted and secure.
PPIDs must be hashed or encrypted before being sent to Google Ad Manager and not contain raw personal data. If a user opts out of personalized ads via Ads Settings, EU consent controls, or Restricted Data Processing (RDP), Google disables PPID-based targeting. Publishers must provide an opt-out option. So, if a user opts out or deletes their account, PPID sharing with Google must stop immediately.
PPID does the core work of letting publishers track and segment users accurately, even when cookies are disabled. When a user visits your website, your system assigns a PPID to them which remains consistent regardless of which device they use to log in.
When sending ad requests to Google Ad Manager (GAM), this PPID helps identify the audience segment and categorize them. This process then allows for sequential ad rotation and better audience targeting.
PPIDs are supported in Google Ad Manager 360, the paid version of Google Ad Manager.
Why Should You Consider Using PPIDs?
PPIDs have slowly become a game changer. From smarter audience segmentation to cross-device tracking and better ad control, there are multiple reasons why you should try them.
1. Smarter Audience Segmentation
PPIDs allow you to build detailed user profiles without relying on third-party cookies. Thus, instead of fragmented data, you get a clear picture of user interests and behavior across multiple sessions.
For example, a visitor frequently reads travel blogs on your site. With PPIDs, you can easily group them into a high-value segment for travel-related ads. This interest-based categorization will allow for better targeting and higher CPMs.
2. Smooth Cross-Device Tracking
If you’re frustrated by users repeatedly seeing the same ad on every device, we understand. After all, Ad Manager often treats each device as a separate user. This often leads to repetitive ads and wasted impressions. Users tend to get tired, and it is generally not a good overall experience.
However, PPIDs can fix this issue. How?
PPIDs can unify user sessions across devices. They help you limit how often users see the same ad, even if they switch devices. This keeps ads fresh and prevents ad fatigue. Overall, this leads to a better experience and higher engagement.
3. Future-Proofing Against Cookie Loss
Regardless of what people say, third-party cookies disappearing means publishers must look for a reliable alternative. PPIDs can fill that space, as they allow you to tap into first-party data and still serve personalized, targeted ads. And you know what the best part is: It does it all without raising privacy concerns.
For example, you don’t need to rely on cookies to track a user’s shopping interests. You can use PPIDs to segment and retarget them across sessions, resulting in more relevant ad delivery and less invasive tracking.
4. Smarter Ad Targeting
By now, we’ve already stressed enough how PPIDs come with a privacy shield. With PPIDs, you can segment audiences using first-party data without storing names, emails, or personal details. They have encrypted identifiers to help you serve relevant ads while keeping user privacy intact.
So, if someone is a frequent visitor of your tech blog website, the PPID will help you group them into a “tech enthusiast” category. This grouping and segmentation makes it easier to serve ads for premium laptops without tracking personal info.
