First-Party Identity Graph Linking for Cookie-Free Ad Exchanges
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The reliance on third-party cookies for online advertising is becoming impractical due to browser defaults and regulatory scrutiny, necessitating a system that enables targeted advertising without third-party cookies while ensuring user privacy.
Innovation Solution
A standalone system and method that connects web publishers' inventory to advertising exchanges using first-party cookies, employing an identity graph and pseudonymous identification to manage user consent and data usage, allowing programmatic advertising without third-party cookies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If third-party cookies are used for targeted advertising, then advertising relevance to users is improved, but user privacy protection deteriorates and browser compatibility worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces first-party cookies as an intermediary mechanism that enables advertising targeting without relying on third-party tracking. The system uses publisher-set first-party cookies to capture user interactions and pass anonymized interaction data to advertising exchanges, serving as a mediator between user behavior tracking and advertising delivery while maintaining privacy boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the advertising ecosystem into distinct functional components: publisher sites that set first-party cookies, advertising exchanges that process anonymized interaction data, and advertiser systems that receive targeted ad requests. This segmentation eliminates the need for third-party cookies while preserving targeting capabilities through distributed first-party data collection.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If third-party cookies are blocked by browser defaults, then user privacy is protected, but programmatic advertising functionality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of blocking third-party cookies to protect privacy, the patent inverts the approach by having publishers set first-party cookies that serve the same functional purpose. The system inverts the traditional third-party tracking model into a first-party data collection model where the publisher, not an external tracker, sets the cookie and controls data sharing.
Solution Approach 2:
Publishers self-serve the advertising ecosystem by setting their own first-party cookies and directly passing user interaction data to advertising exchanges. This eliminates dependence on third-party cookie infrastructure while maintaining programmatic advertising functionality through publisher-controlled data sharing mechanisms.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If first-party cookies are used instead of third-party cookies, then user privacy is maintained and browser compatibility is improved, but advertising data collection capabilities worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from third-party cross-site tracking to first-party same-site interaction capture, changing the dimensional approach from external observation to internal recording. The system captures user interactions within the publisher's own domain context, then translates these interactions into advertising exchange-compatible formats, effectively expanding data collection in a new dimensional framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of data collection by shifting from third-party cookie-based tracking to first-party cookie-based interaction capture. The system modifies how user behavior data is structured, stored, and transmitted, converting publisher-specific first-party data into standardized advertising exchange formats without requiring third-party infrastructure.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A system for serving targeted advertisements while protecting privacy receives an item of personally identifiable information (Pll) from a person using a browser. The item of Pll may be, for example, a telephone number or email address. The item of Pll is hashed, then used to look up a node in an identity graph corresponding to the person. The node contains a link uniquely associated with the person, which is returned in an encrypted form. An envelope is created that contains the link, and is set as a first-party cookie on the person's browser. When the person uses the browser to visit another website the envelope is decrypted, and the link is separately encrypted using a different method for each of a plurality of DSPs to which the link is sent. The DSPs are used to set a display advertisement on the user's browser, the process occurring in real time.