Data Leakage
With countless website visitors every month, publishers process and store a large volume of audience information (non-PII) in their databases. These data points are sometimes provided (in the form of cookies or cookie IDs) to the SSPs (supply-side platforms) that pass it on to the DSPs (demand-side platforms). More often than not, the data is passed via the bid-request stream, the “bidstream.”
Yet, audience data is passed on during the process regardless of the outcome—even when a paid impression is not served. This is called data leakage. If that information is then used for other purposes (derivative works) that are not the publishers’ creation, and without the publishers’ knowledge, the marketplace moves toward a “race to the bottom” where the audience is bought and sold to the lowest bidder.
BPA Worldwide has been at the forefront of the battle against data leakage on behalf of the entire media industry. Below, we offer a number of resources to help you take on the challenge of data leakage and what can be done to prevent it.
List of tools, with descriptions and links
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Open Letter to the Digital Advertising Industry
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BPA Whitepaper: Data Leakage and the Bidstream
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Data Leakage: What It Is and How to Prevent it in the Bidstream
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FOLIO: B2B Publishers Call to End Misuse in Online Ad Auctions
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Letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the Practice of Data Leakage
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Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Urge FTC Probe of Mobile Ad Industry’s Tracking of Consumers
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AdExchanger: Lawmakers Call RTB An Unfair And Deceptive Business Practice In Letter To The FTC
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FCC Journal: Lawmakers Urge FTC Probe of Mobile Ad Industry’s Tracking of Consumers
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Proposed Updates of Terms & Conditions for Contractual Language Between Publishers and Agencies/Marketers
