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Nada Bradbury
We're so done with new Year, new you.
Ari Paparo
This year it's more you on Bumble.
Nada Bradbury
More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially.
Ari Paparo
That one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them.
Nada Bradbury
More of you dating with intention because.
Ari Paparo
You know what you want and you know what?
Nada Bradbury
We love that for you, someone else will too.
Ari Paparo
Be more you this year and find them on Bumblebee. Welcome to marketecture, where you can get smart fast with in depth interviews of leading technology executives. I am Ari Paparo, and I'm joined today by Nada Bradbury, the CEO of AD id. Nada, thanks for being here.
Nada Bradbury
Hey, Ari, thanks for having me. It's always a pleasure to talk with you.
Ari Paparo
So, before we start recording, Nada reminded me that at some point you worked for me, but I was not a very good boss. Is that the summary?
Nada Bradbury
You know, I think that's about right. Way back when in the time machine, you were not a very good boss because I don't think we ever interacted.
Ari Paparo
Yeah, I don't think I knew you worked for me. That was the challenge.
Nada Bradbury
Right.
Ari Paparo
You know, which has been a recurring theme in some of my shows. All right. I've known about AD ID forever. I think I may have been the first person to integrate AD ID because we put it into DoubleClick video, first version, back in 2008, I think, and no one used it, but it was cool to say it on our press release and stuff.
Nada Bradbury
Of course, you were ahead of your time. You were ahead of your time.
Ari Paparo
So why don't you give us the basics, like, what is AD id? It's a nonprofit company that's trying to do stuff, and you're the CEO and sort of what's the basic story?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah. So look, AD ID is a universal identifier for Ad Creatives. We are the registry in the U.S. although we do have global capabilities. And what we do is basically very similar to a UPC code. If you think about any product folks may use out in the marketplace or buy, it has a UPC code on it that carries with it information. What is the brand? What is the product, what is the size? Same thing applies to Ad Creatives. We need to understand what they are as they travel through the ecosystem. And AD ID provides that. It is a code that is associated to each Ad creative, and it carries with us the information such as brand, product, what format is it in, what is the length of the ad, all of those components that are critical for ad management. Ad frequency just moving throughout the ecosystem. And it's true, we are owned by two nonprofits. Two nonprofits created AD ID because over 20 years ago they realized that, hey, look, we need a system in place that can carry information about ads to help at the time linear organizations be able to serve ads appropriately and hopefully at some point measure them on the back end. But just because we started out in linear doesn't mean we stayed there. So I came over to ADID about two years ago to make sure that, hey folks, haven't forgotten about Ad id. And as things get more complex and really complicated in a convergent cross platform world, we need to use Ad ID more than ever, Right. To be able to track and understand what's happening.
Ari Paparo
Okay, so how big is the organization?
Nada Bradbury
We are very small, so less than 50 folks.
Ari Paparo
However, that's not that small. I thought you were going to say five.
Nada Bradbury
No, no, no, less than 50. But you know, we're, we're small but mighty. We serve the majority of all Advertisers. So over 80% of Fortune 500 organizations use us. This is why I said you were ahead of your time. You partnered but didn't use us. All agencies have AD IDs running through them or they propagate AD IDs. Most publishers are utilizing us throughout the ecosystem. So we're like that little known nugget that is in the middle of everything that happens in the advertising world.
Ari Paparo
All right, cool. So I think it would probably be helpful if we do sort of the lifetime of an id. Like how does it get created? Who creates it? How do they pay for it? Where's it go? How's it useful? Can you do that for us? Like how is one created? The birth of an id.
Nada Bradbury
Absolutely. So the birth of an ID can happen anywhere because we understand that the ecosystem is complex. Ideally, we would love to see an ID created when a creative is is made. Right. But sometimes it doesn't happen at that point at an agency. And it may get created at an agency that is distribute the ad. It may get created by a third party, such as an XR that is also working with advertisers and agencies for distribution.
Ari Paparo
XR formerly known as Extreme Reach.
Nada Bradbury
That's right. That's right. Or it might get created by a publisher themselves. So somebody like a great partner such as NBCUniversal, you know, may say, hey, you know What? We'll create IDs on our end. If something's coming through and we don't see an ID on it, or we can't validate the ID that's coming through. So that's how it gets created. We do have.
Ari Paparo
So how does it get created? They log in somewhere. Is there an API? Or they call somebody?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah, so we have an API. We also have a ui. Again, we're really flexible. You could do a spreadsheet upload, even if that's what you chose. Crazy, right? I know, right.
Ari Paparo
And they have to enter like what's the brand, what's the campaign name, who created it? A bunch of other stuff.
Nada Bradbury
Exactly. Depending on who you are, some fields may be pre populated. Right. So if you're Procter and Gamble and you're going in, you might already pre populate your Procter and Gamble brand name and all of the other components before you start entering. It is an ad that is 30 seconds long and it is a video ad, it is not an audio ad. Those types of components, but fairly simple.
Ari Paparo
And there's a fee, right?
Nada Bradbury
There is a fee, yes.
Ari Paparo
So what's the fee?
Nada Bradbury
Well, the fee depends. So it's volume based. Our entire goal, Ari, is to get IDs across everything. So it's not an organization that is looking to fleece somebody. Because we're trying to get people to create more IDs at these astronomical prices. The more you create, the lower your price point. You could create one, it may be $45, it could go all the way down to a very nominal fee. If you're putting it across everything, it's really to ensure that we can get transparency and accountability in the marketplace.
Ari Paparo
Sure. The IDs aren't exactly paying for themselves, right?
Nada Bradbury
I wish they were. Right when they'd be gone.
Ari Paparo
Okay, so they create an id. God bless. Then what do they do with it?
Nada Bradbury
Well, then it really falls on the agency or various publishers to make sure that it's propagated throughout the ecosystem. And this is where I on a campaign to make sure that everybody's aware. Just because you create an ID doesn't necessarily mean it runs through the ecosystem. We need to get it into a watermark, we need to get it into a vast tag. We need to make sure that as it's running through the ecosystem, it is populated. Whatever column says ID and add ID needs to go in there so it can get unwrapped and people can understand what this is and what am I doing with it. And I could do all of those fun value added components. I talked about frequency cap, for example.
Ari Paparo
So you mentioned vast and I think that's an interesting topic because vast always had an arbitrary ID in the field. But people Used it for their ad server id. And so you guys kind of got crowded out. And my understanding is that AD ID is an explicit field in Vast 4 and beyond. Do you remember the details on that?
Nada Bradbury
It is, that's true. Explicit field and foreign beyond and also retrofitted for previous versions of Vaast. Yes, that has been a recent revelation that's occurred with our work with the IV Tech Lab where we realized, look, not everybody's moving over to BAS forum. Right. We need to make sure we. Exactly. We need to make sure we accommodate everybody else. And the IV Tech Lab actually came out, I don't know if you're aware of this, of something called asif. So it's the.
Ari Paparo
I was going to ask you about it. Yeah, tell me about asif. We just did a. Just a plug here. We own the website. AdTech Explained and AdTech Explained just did an amazing, like thousand word explainer on what ASIF is and how it works. Yes, but I want to hear, I want to hear from you how it works.
Nada Bradbury
I watched it and you guys are spot on. And how it works is it really. It took all of the fundamentals of what AD ID has been doing here in the U.S. right. So we work closely with them. Everybody within the ecosystem agrees. Right. So you always get people agreeing. This is so valuable. We need to do it. But then how does it get done? We worked with them to say, hey, this is what an ad registry needs to look like. This is what it needs to carry with it. All of those fields I talked about that we collect for an Ad ID and this is how it helps on the back end. Let's make sure that globally, as folks utilize ad registries, they all look the same. Because we have so many advertisers in the marketplace that are global organizations and they want to be able to collectively look at their investments around ad creatives and look at it in the same way. So they utilize the Ad ID format to say, this is what an ad creative identity framework looks like. You have to register with us in order for us to be able to check off. Yes, this is a legit ad creative registry and from there it provides guidelines on how to do frequency capping and all the things that we talk about.
Ari Paparo
Is it like an envelope for an Ad id?
Nada Bradbury
It is. Well, not ASIF itself. ASIF itself is just a framework. I would say vast is an envelope for it.
Ari Paparo
Yeah, vast is an envelope, right?
Nada Bradbury
Yes, absolutely.
Ari Paparo
Cool. So, yeah, we got on that because we're talking about backwards compatibility. So is that in the backwards compatibility Is it some sort of naming convention where you just put the ad ID somewhere in some other field?
Nada Bradbury
Exactly. It'll accommodate it within the ID field. And look what we're looking to do. We don't want to replace any other IDs. Everybody's got their own internal ID. We are here to help make that connection. So look, if you've got an internal ID that you use, that's great, but it doesn't help the ecosystem unless everybody's on the same id. You can't get that transparency. You can't get cross platform measurement. You can't ensure frequency capping so that Ari doesn't see the same gecko ad 85 times, whether he's looking at his phone or TV.
Ari Paparo
Right, okay, so let's talk about the ecosystem. Let's do Buy side first. So Extreme Reach obviously supports this. They're the TV stalwart in Creative management, right?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah.
Ari Paparo
In the digital space, like can I log into the Trade Desk today and cut and paste an ad id? Or can you give me some color as to who on the buy side are the ad servers supporting it or the DSPs supporting it?
Nada Bradbury
The answer is yes and no. They support it from a perspective in which there is a column in which you could insert an ad id. Are they out there saying. Right. Are they saying you need to have it? No. Do I wish they were? Absolutely. I think we'll get there eventually. But it's for digital being so technologically savvy. I think it's also the wild, wild West. And so a lot of the really nice things that we did in Linear a long time ago kind of just got dropped because people need to move so fast. So we're trying to get them back.
Ari Paparo
Okay, so just to put a point on it, Procter and Gamble is one of Trade Desk's largest customers. They're, I assume, one of your largest customers since you mentioned them. Right. So can they cut and paste their ad IDs from your spreadsheet into Trade Desk and get reporting that comes back into their data warehouse that has the AD IDs in it and matches the extreme reach IDs they could.
Nada Bradbury
And let me just clarify, it's not a spreadsheet. I threw that out there just to be a little bit.
Ari Paparo
I love spreadsheets.
Nada Bradbury
I know, but, you know, yes, they could. Ideally, what would happen is as that ad travels over to the Trade Desk, it would already be included within whatever format it's running over, and so there wouldn't have to be any cutting and pasting or Copying.
Ari Paparo
What about the major ad servers? So Innovid, Flash talking and the Google.
Nada Bradbury
Campaign manager, they do have the capability for it. So again, there is a column for it. Are they doing it across everything? No, it is really driven by who is driving their purchase.
Ari Paparo
Exactly. And in general, could we characterize the use of ad ID as almost entirely video related? Whether it's digital or linear, it's almost always video. Are people using it for banners?
Nada Bradbury
Some do, believe it or not. We used to call it display ads, but yes, some do use it for that. Some also use it for audio. Right. So yeah, it's across the board. It's every format. Every format's covered.
Ari Paparo
All right, let's transition to the sell side. So what is the sell side's interaction with adid? It seems really important. I know there's been a lot of announcements from nbcu, but if you could just generally step back and tell us how does the sell side see ad id?
Nada Bradbury
There are a few different components. One of them is around the not often talked about and less sexy component of metadata and taxonomy in general. So since we work with the majority of advertisers in the marketplace, we keep really close track of acquisitions and mergers and changes in names. And what does that look like? And how should somebody like a Procter and Gamble be represented within particular records? Is it an ampersand, is it an and spelled out? That is one way that it's utilized to make sure that it's aligned across systems so that everything's talking together. But the other way is utilizing an ID internally so that they can understand if they are looking to do some sort of measurement on the back end. Or can they, can they take a look at what that looks like across all of their properties? Right. So not just linear, but perhaps on Peacock, what did those ads look like? What was the exposure and the frequency of the. Of that ad exposure, as well as just making sure that they could do ad management, ad placement, preventing ad collision. They're utilizing it internally, especially for very large events. So if you think about the Olympics, they want to make sure. Yes, they want to make sure everything's covered and that they know what's running when and what is the nomenclature behind it and getting the right distribution.
Ari Paparo
But specifically, so NBCU tell me if I'm wrong, they require ad ID in all their linear campaigns, is that right?
Nada Bradbury
I would say that they have a strong preference. They highly and strongly recommend. I don't think that anybody's going to turn ad dollars away. Right.
Ari Paparo
So as a buyer, if I'm Looking across all my media companies I'm working with, do I have universal acceptance of ad ID or is it spotty? Do I have to cajole people? What's the sell side position?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah, you have universal acceptance in use, but that doesn't mean that it's in every ad creative that runs across. So we're never turned away. Nobody ever says I don't want an ad ID and I won't use one, but I don't think it's running across every single creative that's out there.
Ari Paparo
Right, okay. And the sell side tools though, the ad servers, both linear and things like VOD and all those sort of stuff, are they all up to date that they can accept an ad ID and put it out in reporting?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah, you know what, I would assume most of them are because they have to accept some sort of id. So oftentimes I think you mentioned it earlier, Ari. One of our issues is that sometimes it's not very explicit, so it just says ID and you have to know.
Ari Paparo
Where to put it. You mentioned earlier watermarking and I assume that's relevant to the third party measurement. Is there a integration or some relationship with the Nielsen's of the world?
Nada Bradbury
Well, that's why I came over to add id. I spent a really long time in the measurement world and when I got the call from the forays and the ana, the light bulb that went off for me is, look, everything is moving from content to ad measurement. The only way to make ad measurement more accurate across platforms is if you had an identifier associated to it. Right. So the same way that we think about people, we need to think that same way about content or creative ads. So creative ads, that is Ad id. My vision is eventually you will not be able to get accurate measurement unless you are utilizing an ad ID so that you know that you are not double counting and that it's the same ad that's running across. We are right now in PoCs with alternative currencies that are looking at this. I've had several conversations with Nielsen. Even though they do utilize ad ID internally, I don't think it's across the board and I don't think it's one of their highest priorities at the moment. But I think that's a miss.
Ari Paparo
Maybe you can step back here and give us a little tutorial on the state of ATR watermarking for ads. Are video ads widely being watermarked right now? And if so, are the various ACR technologies picking up on it?
Nada Bradbury
Well, I would say that there Is watermarking that's happening. Do we have universal watermarking across the board? No, we do not. I think that there is a lot of discussion, Ari, right now, as you might be aware of, what do we do in this space and can we enact some sort of universal watermarking? All the conversations that are happening around that do include an AD id, because folks realize if we're going to do it, we need to do it right so we could track appropriately. Are we going to get there soon? I'm hopeful, but I think it'll be step by step. There are, you know, I mean, that's like opening Pandora's box. Sorry to discuss what's happening with watermarking and acr, because there are. You've got legal issues, you have streamers that will prevent what gets through and what doesn't. And getting everybody on board, I think, is a little bit of a big issue.
Ari Paparo
Okay. One of the more interesting things I found looking into AD ID was your agreement with the Screen Actors Guild. Could you explain that to our audience?
Nada Bradbury
Yeah. So we are required by SAG AFTRA for any talent that is within an ad. Creative needs to have an AD id, And this is because people need to get paid. Right.
Ari Paparo
So they want the actors. The actors, the directors, they need to get paid.
Nada Bradbury
Yeah, they need to get paid. And the only way that they could track it accurately and know that they're getting paid the right amount of money is utilizing an ID system such as Ad ID to make sure they're getting their paychecks. So, yeah, all right.
Ari Paparo
But throughout the rest of this conversation, we've been saying, well, it's not fully accepted. It's like in this. It's sort of janky in some places. Not every advertiser uses it. But if I have to pay my actors, how else would I pay them? Would I use non SAG actors or like, it seems like you have a requirement to use you, and yet you're not fully deployed in every nook and cranny of the industry.
Nada Bradbury
That's right. I think somebody should look into that. I think somebody should look into that. And what's happening and am I getting the, you know, the right payment? There's. There might be money left on the table. So you.
Ari Paparo
We need to get Ryan Reynolds on here. So.
Nada Bradbury
Right, I agree. I agree. You know what I think you'd be interested to know? What's fascinating about it is I think probably the majority of the compliance that we get with the use of AD ID probably is driven by when talent is Included within an ad versus not if I had to make a guess.
Ari Paparo
Yeah, got it. Okay, let's go for a lightning round. I'll ask you relatively quick questions, you give me relatively quick answers. What's your number one competitive advantage?
Nada Bradbury
That we are here to provide transparency and accountability. We have no ulterior motives. That's it. An AD ID through the ecosystem.
Ari Paparo
What's your number one challenge?
Nada Bradbury
Adoption throughout the ecosystem.
Ari Paparo
I'll follow up. What are the number one objections to adoption?
Nada Bradbury
I wouldn't necessarily call them objections. I would call them archaic ways in which we transfer data throughout the ecosystem. So it's making sure that we can put it into a bass tag and into a watermark and all. Compliance. Compliance.
Ari Paparo
It's just a field, though. I mean, like, this is the easiest integration in the world.
Nada Bradbury
I agree, Ari. You know what? Let's get out there and tell everybody. It's just. Literally. Just enter the code.
Ari Paparo
Just enter the code. Like, stop. Stop being a pain in the ass here. Okay. I always ask this question. It's not really that relevant, but I'll ask you a different style, which is, what's the relationship between AD ID and the giants, the Google metas and Amazons?
Nada Bradbury
Wes, I think they need to get on board. They're not.
Ari Paparo
Well, you think everyone should get on board, so.
Nada Bradbury
I do. I do. But let me tell you, I think the giants do need to get on board. If we're looking at this as a universal registry and something that benefits the. All of the ad money that's coming in, we will continue to have, and they do operate as walled gardens, but we will continue to never know the real truth of what's happening around creatives unless we can. There's. There's no downside. But that. That's the thing. There's no downside to utilizing it. So it's. I think eventually they'll get there. They will.
Ari Paparo
So is there no ad ID field in YouTube?
Nada Bradbury
There's an ID field. There's not an ad ID field.
Ari Paparo
I see. That seems to be a recurring, recurring problem. All right, last question. If AD ID was an animal, what animal would it be?
Nada Bradbury
Oh, let me think. I think he would be a cheetah. They can run fast. If you could let it go. If you could just let it run. Right.
Ari Paparo
Let it run. All right. A cheetah in captivity. You're not the first cheetah. Answer, but I'll accept it. All right. Nada. Thank you so much for being here. It was really interesting hearing about AD id.
Nada Bradbury
Thank you for having me. This was a pleasure. I appreciate it.
Ari Paparo
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Podcast Title: Marketecture: Get Smart. Fast.
Host: Ari Paparo
Guest: Nada Bradbury, CEO of AD ID
Release Date: January 13, 2025
In this episode of the Marketecture Podcast, hosts Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi delve into the intricacies of Ad-ID with Nada Bradbury, the CEO of AD ID. They explore the fundamental aspects of Ad-ID, its creation, its role within the advertising ecosystem, and the challenges surrounding its adoption.
Nada Bradbury opens the conversation by defining AD ID as a universal identifier for ad creatives, analogous to a UPC code for products. She explains that AD ID serves as a registry in the U.S. with global capabilities, providing essential information about each ad creative, such as brand, product, format, and length. This facilitates better ad management, frequency control, and measurement across the advertising ecosystem.
Nada Bradbury (01:38): "AD ID is a universal identifier for Ad Creatives. We are the registry in the U.S. although we do have global capabilities."
The discussion transitions to the lifecycle of an AD ID, detailing how and where it is created. AD IDs can originate at various points within the ecosystem, including agencies, distributors like Extreme Reach (XR), or publishers such as NBCUniversal. Nada emphasizes the flexibility of AD ID creation methods, which include APIs, user interfaces, and even spreadsheet uploads.
Nada Bradbury (03:57): "The birth of an ID can happen anywhere because we understand that the ecosystem is complex."
She also touches on the cost structure, highlighting that fees are volume-based to encourage widespread adoption, thereby reducing individual costs as usage increases.
Nada Bradbury (05:27): "The more you create, the lower your price point."
Once an AD ID is created, it must be propagated throughout the ecosystem to be effective. This involves embedding the ID in ad watermarks, VAST tags, and ensuring it flows seamlessly across various platforms and services. Nada underscores the importance of uniform adoption to achieve transparency and accountability.
Nada Bradbury (06:07): "We need to get it into a watermark, we need to get it into a vast tag... so it can get unwrapped and people can understand what this is."
Ari Paparo inquires about the integration of AD ID on the buy side, particularly within platforms like The Trade Desk. Nada explains that while some DSPs and ad servers support AD ID fields, explicit adoption isn't universal. She expresses optimism that digital platforms will increasingly incorporate AD ID as the industry moves towards greater standardization.
Nada Bradbury (10:03): "They support it from a perspective in which there is a column in which you could insert an ad id."
Shifting focus to the sell side, Nada discusses how publishers and ad servers utilize AD ID for metadata management, ensuring consistency across acquisitions, mergers, and brand representations. She highlights AD ID's role in enhancing ad placement, preventing ad collisions, and facilitating accurate measurement across both linear and digital platforms.
Nada Bradbury (12:00): "We keep really close track of acquisitions and mergers and changes in names... ensuring that everything's talking together."
Despite its benefits, AD ID faces challenges in achieving widespread adoption. Nada identifies the primary obstacle as the entrenched, archaic data transfer methods within the ecosystem. She advocates for a simpler approach, urging stakeholders to "just enter the code" to facilitate smoother integration.
Nada Bradbury (18:26): "Adoption throughout the ecosystem."
Ari echoes this sentiment, pointing out the simplicity of integrating an AD ID field and questioning the resistance to its adoption.
Ari Paparo (18:51): "It's just a field... stop being a pain in the ass here."
Looking ahead, Nada envisions AD ID becoming indispensable for accurate cross-platform ad measurement. She discusses ongoing Proofs of Concept (PoCs) with alternative currencies and conversations with major measurement firms like Nielsen. However, she notes that major tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Amazon have yet to fully embrace AD ID, which she believes is crucial for a universal registry.
Nada Bradbury (19:14): "If we're looking at this as a universal registry and something that benefits all of the ad money that's coming in, we will continue to have... we will continue to never know the real truth of what's happening around creatives unless we can."
Towards the end of the episode, Ari conducts a lightning round with Nada, uncovering key insights:
Competitive Advantage: Transparency and accountability without ulterior motives.
Nada Bradbury (18:14): "We are here to provide transparency and accountability."
Number One Challenge: Ecosystem-wide adoption.
Nada Bradbury (18:26): "Adoption throughout the ecosystem."
Major Objections to Adoption: Outdated data transfer methods and compliance issues.
Nada Bradbury (18:34): "Archaic ways in which we transfer data."
Relationship with Tech Giants: Acknowledges the need for giants like Google and Amazon to adopt AD ID for universal registry benefits.
Nada Bradbury (19:14): "They need to get on board."
AD ID Animal Metaphor: A cheetah, symbolizing speed and agility.
Nada Bradbury (20:00): "They can run fast. If you could let it go."
Nada Bradbury's insightful discussion on AD ID underscores its pivotal role in enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency within the advertising ecosystem. While challenges in adoption persist, the potential benefits of a universally recognized ad identifier present a compelling case for industry-wide implementation. The episode concludes with a mutual acknowledgment of AD ID's importance and the ongoing efforts to integrate it more seamlessly across all platforms.
Listen to the full episode on Marketecture TV or your favorite podcasting app. Subscribe to stay updated with the latest insights from leading technology executives in the advertising and marketing industries.