Nada Bradury explains AD-ID. How it works, and why you should care.
Jan 13, 2025
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Nada Bradbury, CEO of Ad-ID, shares her expertise on the essential role of universal identifiers in advertising. She discusses how Ad-ID streamlines tracking and enhances accountability, acting like a UPC code for ads. The conversation dives into the challenges of integration, particularly with legacy systems, and the importance of collaboration among agencies. Nada also highlights Ad-ID's significance for talent payment tracking and the ongoing push for transparency in the notoriously complex advertising ecosystem.
Ad-ID provides a universal identifier for ad creatives that enhances tracking, management, and transparency across the advertising ecosystem.
Despite significant adoption by major companies, challenges persist in ensuring full compliance and integration of Ad-ID across all platforms and systems.
Deep dives
Understanding AdID's Role in Advertising
AdID serves as a universal identifier for ad creatives, akin to a UPC code for products, providing essential information about each ad as it moves through the advertising ecosystem. This identifier enables tracking of various ad components, such as brand, product, format, and length, ensuring efficient ad management and frequency tracking across platforms. Originally established by two nonprofit organizations, AdID aims to enhance transparency and accountability in the advertising industry, particularly as the landscape shifts toward cross-platform and convergent advertising. With a small team, AdID supports over 80% of Fortune 500 companies, operating as a vital yet often overlooked element within the advertising world.
The Lifecycle and Creation of an AdID
The creation of an AdID can occur at various stages, ideally when the ad creative is developed, but it often happens during distribution by agencies or publishers. Users can create an ID through a user interface or an API, requiring input such as brand name, campaign details, and ad specifications. The costing structure encourages volume usage, with per-ID fees decreasing as more IDs are generated, thus promoting widespread adoption. Once established, the IDs must be integrated into the ad ecosystem, including watermarking and tagging appropriately to ensure effective tracking and analytics.
Challenges and Acceptance of AdID in the Market
Despite its potential benefits, AdID faces challenges in achieving universal adoption throughout the advertising ecosystem, with some platforms still hesitant to fully integrate it. Major ad servers and DSPs accommodate AdID, but usage can be sporadic, complicating cross-platform measurement and transparency. Compliance with AdID is especially vital for ensuring proper compensation for talent involved in ad creatives, as required by industry standards like those from the Screen Actors Guild. As competition intensifies, overcoming the archaic methods of data transfer and ensuring that all stakeholders recognize the necessity of a unified identifier remains a top priority for AdID.
AD-ID is owned by two non-profits organizations and provides a universal identifier for advertising creatives, akin to a UPC code for ads, enabling standardized tracking and management throughout the advertising ecosystem. Used by over 80% of Fortune 500 companies, AD-ID's system supports transparency, accountability, and cross-platform measurement by encoding essential metadata like brand, product, and format. The platform offers flexible creation methods, including APIs and spreadsheets, and charges based on usage volume to encourage widespread adoption. Despite its utility, challenges remain in achieving full ecosystem compliance, especially with large platforms and ensuring integration into legacy systems. AD-ID also plays a critical role in talent payment tracking through agreements with organizations like SAG-AFTRA, emphasizing its significance in both operational and creative aspects of the advertising industry.