Urban Science has officially completed the adoption of Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) on The Trade Desk. The emerging technology is a privacy-first identity framework that gives consumers greater control over their data through consent, authentication and encryption. It enables brands and agencies to deliver personalized, cookie-free advertising and measurement while preserving user privacy and supporting a fair value exchange across the open internet.
This achievement highlights the sophisticated nature of our Media Performance solutions — allowing us to be first-to-market with UID2s and deliver a competitive edge to our clients.
New enhancements to Urban Science’s SalesMatch and In-Market Audiences offerings
Brands and agencies can now target — and directly measure the sales driven by — a greater selection of authenticated audiences including connected TV (CTV) advertising. This is a critical capability as consumer behavior continues to shift toward CTV platforms such as smart TVs, streaming devices and gaming consoles, all which serve programmatic ads that are usually non-skippable and highly targeted. Authenticated audiences refer to groups of users whose identities are verified through a login or other form of direct authentication — typically via email address, phone number or another persistent identifier. You can read more about the trend toward personalization with privacy here.
This advancement is supported by a reduction in identity fragmentation, as Urban Science’s data and measurement are tied to another common ID — UID2 . Identity fragmentation is the challenge of recognizing and connecting a single user across multiple devices and platforms. This is due to a growing number of identifiers and privacy restrictions that have long hindered accurate attribution, but this new approach helps overcome that barrier. It makes sales matching and audience targeting more durable, omnichannel and cross-device. In testing, we’ve already seen a 37% increase in attributable sales matching.
Building the future of automotive marketing
Urban Science is a top choice for UID2 adoption thanks to our adaptable identity framework which integrates seamlessly with Adtech service providers. Our people-based data is translated into privacy preserving identifiers like UID2s to maintain privacy while enhancing match quality. Unlike cookies, which are low-quality and short-lived, UID2s offer a more durable, high-fidelity solution built on hashed emails and phone numbers. Rather than replacing our existing framework, UID2s enhance it — strengthening our ability to deliver accurate, privacy-conscious identity resolution across the digital ecosystem.
Our collaboration with The Trade Desk exemplifies this approach. We worked closely with their team — meeting regularly, submitting test data and setting up mirror data feeds (one with cookies, the other with UID2s plus cookies) — to help them understand attribution and validate their methodology. This hands-on partnership allowed us to directly compare performance across ID types and confirm the value of UID2s in real-world scenarios. It’s a clear example of how our flexible infrastructure and technical expertise help accelerate innovation and adoption across the AdTech landscape.
