Leveraging Data: Cookie Synching Explained In Detail

Cookies are domain specific: a cookie from the domain guardian.co.uk cannot be read by a server form domain mail.co.uk (ah, politics and cookies). So when you buy cookie data from domain A how do you actually get your server to read it and serve an ad against it? There is a technique known as cookie synching, a fairly complex process, which enables you to map user ids from one system to another. This is how “DSPs” and ad exchanges integrate third party data with their own platforms. Vivek Vaidya does a great job of breaking this down on the Krux Digital blog.

He lifts the lid on how ad exchanges do their re-targeting and how the partnership between a data exchange (Bluekai or Exelate) and an ad exchange actually works. Vaidya provides the inner workings behind the all marketing hokum – a great education piece for a Friday morning. And it also has some visuals. Can someone tell me how to price this cookie data here in Europe? Anyone? Maybe Bluekai and Exelate can release some numbers so that traders can benchmark against? The data market could be huge but we still have no way to value it.

Re-targeting on Ad Exchanges


Ciaran O'Kane

Ciaran O’Kane is the Founder and Advisor to WireCorp, the publishing holding group focused on the digital advertising, retail technology and gaming sectors.  He has worked in digital advertising over the last twenty years as a developer, digital marketer, ad operations provider, media monetisation specialist and senior sales executive.  He continues to write editorial for ExchangeWire on advertising technology, marketing technology and programmatic  - and acts as an advisor to a number of leading digital media companies in Europe.

Recent Posts

Adform Campaign Planner Launch Generates Significant Online Engagement

Adform, the most powerful and safe media buying platform built for game changers, celebrates today…

3 months ago

Opti Digital Unveils New Brand Identity Reflecting Strategic Growth

Opti Digital, a premium ad revenue platform, unveils a new brand identity that embodies its…

3 months ago

Digest: Ireland pushes for Big Tech to Vet Financial Ads; Warner Bros. Discovery Considers Split as Financial Loss Continues

In today’s Digest, Ireland pushes for Big Tech to vet financial ads, Warner Bros. Discovery…

3 months ago

2025’s All In Census: Is the Ad Industry Trustworthy? 60% of Members Don’t Think So

We look at some of the key findings from this year’s All In Census (created…

3 months ago

The Stack: A Big Week for Google

This week, Google dominated headlines with bold moves across content, advertising, and AI, while lawmakers…

3 months ago

Intent IQ Achieves SOC 2 Compliance, Reinforcing Enterprise-Grade Trust in Data Security & Privacy

Intent IQ, a leading provider of identity resolution and data technology, today (May 8th, 2025)…

3 months ago