Publishers

As a publisher, you can benefit from the cross-device presence of Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) and take advantage of a consistent identity fabric on all your inventory.

Learn about benefits, workflow, documentation, and other resources for publishers adopting UID2, as well as instructions for getting started.

note

If you want access in the left sidebar to the full set of UID2 documentation, see Unified ID 2.0 Overview.

Benefits of UID2 for Publishers

Here are just some of the intended benefits for publishers integrating with UID2:

• Addressable audience targeting on desktop, mobile, and CTV with a single identifier.
• Frequency management across devices.
• More relevant content recommendations.
• The ability to provide personalized ad experiences with relevant content.
• The ability to offer opt-out, with the goal of improving consumer privacy controls.

Workflow for Publishers

The following steps provide a high-level outline of the workflow intended for organizations that propagate UID2 tokens to the bidstream via SSPs—for example, identity providers, publishers, and SSO providers. Publishers can choose to work with an SSO provider or an independent ID provider that is interoperable with UID2 and can handle the UID2 integration on behalf of publishers.

1. A user visits a publisher website, mobile app, or CTV app.

2. The publisher provides transparency around its data practices and asks the user to provide an email address or phone number, by SSO login or other means.

3. Once the user has provided an email address or phone number, the publisher sends it to the UID2 Operator via an SDK or direct API integration.

   tip

   A publisher can authorize an SSO provider or identity provider to pass DII on their behalf.

4. The UID2 Operator:

   • Takes the email or phone number.
   • Performs the salt, hash, and encryption process.
   • Returns the UID2 token.

5. The publisher stores the UID2 token to share with SSPs during real-time bidding.

   • Server-side: The publisher stores the token in a mapping table, DMP, data lake, or other server-side application.
   • Client-side: The publisher stores the token in a client-side app or in the user’s browser as a first-party cookie.

6. The publisher retrieves the UID2 token from storage.

7. The publisher sends the UID2 token to the SSP.

8. The SSP puts the bid request, with the UID2 token, into the bidstream.

Integrating with Single Sign-On (SSO)

If you integrate with one or more SSO providers to offer SSO login, you might be able to retrieve the logged-in user's email address from the SSO provider to generate UID2 tokens.

For details, see Publisher Integration with SSO Providers.

Private Operator Option

If you're a publisher and want to keep your first-party data within your corporate network, you might choose to deploy a Private Operator. In this scenario, you choose to host a private instance exclusively for your own use.

For additional information, review these resources:

• The UID2 Operator
• UID2 Private Operator Integration Overview

note

The UID2 Private Operator solutions do not support client-side generation of the UID2 token. If you want a client-side implementation, you must use a Public Operator solution.

Getting Started

To get started, follow these steps:

1. Request access to UID2 by filling out the form on the Request Access page.

2. Identify the properties that you want to integrate with UID2.

3. Sign the UID2 contract.

4. Determine whether you want a client-side, client-server, or server-side integration, and tell your UID2 contact.

   For more information about these options, see Integration Approaches.

5. Receive the UID2 credentials.

6. Build your integration to UID2 via an SDK or direct integration with the UID2 APIs, using the applicable implementation resources.

   note

   Be sure to encrypt request messages to UID2. For details, see Encrypting Requests and Decrypting Responses.

7. Test:

   • Confirm that UID2 tokens are being generated and passed correctly within the bid request.
   • Troubleshoot as needed, and work with SSPs to properly pass UID2 tokens in bid requests.

8. Go live.

Implementation Resources

The following resources are available for publishers to implement UID2:

• Web Integrations
• Mobile Integrations
• CTV Integrations
• Prebid Integrations
• Google Ad Manager Integrations

Web Integrations

The following resources are available for publisher web integrations.

tip

For a detailed summary of web integration options, see Publisher Web Integration Overview.

Integration Type	Documentation	Content Description
Prebid (Overview)	UID2 Integration Overview for Prebid	An overview of options for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 and generate UID2 tokens (advertising tokens) to be passed by Prebid.js or the Prebid Mobile SDK in the RTB bidstream.
Prebid.js Client-Side Integration	UID2 Client-Side Integration Guide for Prebid.js	A guide for publishers who want to request UID2 tokens client-side, which is the easiest implementation approach, and choose to have Prebid.js manage the following: Token generation and token refresh. Passing the tokens into the RTB bidstream.
Prebid.js Client-Server Integration	UID2 Client-Server Integration Guide for Prebid.js	A guide for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 and generate UID2 tokens to be passed by Prebid.js in the RTB bidstream, but want to generate tokens server-side: for example, publishers who are using a Private Operator.
JavaScript (Overview)	UID2 Integration Overview for JavaScript	An overview of options for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 using the JavaScript SDK.
JavaScript Client-Side Integration	Client-Side Integration Guide for JavaScript	A guide for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 using only client-side JavaScript changes, which is the easiest implementation approach. The SDK for JavaScript manages token generation and token refresh automatically.
JavaScript Client-Server Integration	Client-Server Integration Guide for JavaScript	A publisher guide covering standard web integration scenarios that use the SDK for JavaScript and require tokens to be generated on the server side and passed to the publisher web pages.
Server-Side Integration	Publisher Integration Guide, Server-Side	A guide for publishers who do not use the SDK for JavaScript.
Publisher/SSP Integration with GAM	Google Ad Manager Secure Signals Integration Guide	A guide covering the additional steps needed for publishers using UID2 with the Google Ad Manager Secure Signals feature (previously known as Encrypted Signals for Publishers, ESP).

Mobile Integrations

The following resources are available for publisher integrations supporting Android or iOS devices.

Integration Type	Documentation	Content Description
Android/iOS (Overview)	Mobile Integration Overview for Android and iOS	An overview of options for mobile app publishers who want to integrate with UID2 using the SDK for Android or the SDK for iOS.
Android/iOS, Client-Side Integration	Client-Side Integration Guide for Mobile	An integration guide for mobile app publishers who want to integrate with UID2 with changes only within the mobile app (no server-side changes).
Android/iOS, Client-Server Integration	Client-Server Integration Guide for Mobile	An integration guide for mobile app publishers who want to integrate with UID2 by doing the following: Generating UID2 tokens server-side via either a Public or Private Operator. Passing the resulting identities to a mobile app for passing into the bidstream.
Android/iOS, Server-Side Integration	Server-Side Integration Guide for Mobile	An integration guide for mobile app publishers who want to manage the UID2 token entirely on the server side.
Android	SDK for Android Reference Guide	An SDK that facilitates the process of generating or establishing client identity using UID2 and retrieving UID2 tokens for publishers that need to support Android apps.
iOS	SDK for iOS Reference Guide	An SDK that facilitates the process of generating or establishing client identity using UID2 and retrieving UID2 tokens for publishers that need to support iOS apps.

CTV Integrations

The following resources are available for publisher integrations supporting CTV.

Integration Type	Documentation	Content Description
CTV	CTV Integration Guide	A summary of CTV integration options, with links to additional information and instructions.

Prebid Integrations

The following resources are available for publishers integrating with Prebid.

Integration Type	Documentation	Content Description
Prebid (Overview)	UID2 Integration Overview for Prebid	An overview of options for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 and generate UID2 tokens (advertising tokens) to be passed by Prebid.js or the Prebid Mobile SDK in the RTB bidstream.
Prebid.js Client-Side Integration	UID2 Client-Side Integration Guide for Prebid.js	A guide for publishers who want to request UID2 tokens client-side, which is the easiest implementation approach, and choose to have Prebid.js manage the following: Token generation and token refresh. Passing the tokens into the RTB bidstream.
Prebid.js Client-Server Integration	UID2 Client-Server Integration Guide for Prebid.js	A guide for publishers who want to integrate with UID2 and generate UID2 tokens to be passed by Prebid.js in the RTB bidstream, but want to generate tokens server-side: for example, publishers who are using a Private Operator.
Prebid.js on Mobile	UID2 Mobile Integration for Prebid.js	A summary of information resources for UID2 integration with Prebid.js on mobile devices.

Google Ad Manager Integrations

The following resources are available for publishers integrating with Google Ad Manager.

Integration Type	Documentation	Content Description
Publisher/SSP Integration with GAM	Google Ad Manager Secure Signals Integration Guide	A guide covering the additional steps needed for publishers using UID2 with the Google Ad Manager Secure Signals feature (previously known as Encrypted Signals for Publishers, ESP).
GMA for Android	UID2 GMA Plugin for Android Integration Guide	A guide that enables publishers using the Google Mobile Ads (GMA) SDK to include UID2 tokens in ad requests from their Android apps.
GMA for iOS	UID2 GMA Plugin for iOS Integration Guide	A guide that enables publishers using the Google Mobile Ads (GMA) SDK to include UID2 tokens in ad requests from their iOS apps.
IMA for Android	UID2 IMA Plugin for Android Integration Guide	A guide that enables publishers using the Google Interactive Media Ads (IMA) SDK to include UID2 tokens in ad requests from their Android apps.
IMA for iOS	UID2 IMA Plugin for iOS Integration Guide	A guide that enables publishers using the Google Interactive Media Ads (IMA) SDK to include UID2 tokens in ad requests from their iOS apps.

FAQs for Publishers

For a list of frequently asked questions for publishers using the UID2 framework, see FAQs for Publishers.