Epsilon and Verizon Media Partner to Strengthen Identity and Build on Activation Capabilities

As marketers look for proven solutions to stay connected to their customers in a cookie-less world, Epsilon^®  and Verizon Media are expanding their long-standing partnership with the interoperability of Epsilon’s CORE ID and Verizon Media’s ConnectID. The new integration enables Publicis Groupe and Epsilon clients to build persistent custom audiences in Epsilon PeopleCloud, the marketing platform for personalizing consumer journeys with performance transparency, and access and activate those audiences through Verizon Media’s DSP. The stability and accuracy of CORE ID, when mapped to similarly deterministic IDs like Verizon Media’s ConnectID, will drive increased reach and improved performance and consumer experiences across all channels.

“As we look to a cookie-less future, Epsilon and Verizon Media have a shared vision to deliver the best consumer experience while moving away from third-party cookies and mobile ad IDs,” stated Ric Elert, President and Chief Operating Officer at Epsilon. “Our partnership gives our clients the ability to tap into the power of CORE ID to create audiences within our data platforms, Epsilon PeopleCloud Prospect and Discovery, and connect them to Verizon Media’s ConnectID through our integration. This new capability is mutually beneficial to brands and the consumers they’re trying to reach.”

Epsilon’s CORE ID is anchored in deterministic and transactional data, not cookies or mobile ad identifiers. It has been validated to have 96% accuracy as well as industry leading match and reach rates. Built in 2012 using open web standards and with Privacy by Design & Default, the persistency of CORE ID allows Epsilon to maintain consumer choice over time while identifying and serving 98% of brands’ ads to individuals, not orphaned cookies or device IDs.

Epsilon has partnered with Yahoo (now part of Verizon Media) since 2013 to provide both targeting and measurement solutions that enable marketers to take full advantage of their data footprints on the Verizon Media platform. The expanded partnership follows several identity-related announcements made by both companies in December 2020, including Epsilon’s work with Prebid and the launch of the Verizon Media ConnectID.

“The Verizon Media ConnectID is built on our consumer-first values and market-leading advertising technologies,” said Iván Markman, Chief Business Officer, Verizon Media. “It is designed to support advertisers, publishers and consumers as the digital landscape continues to move away from cookies. We’re proud to be partnering with Epsilon and to be integrating further with the company to provide enhanced targeting solutions for advertisers.”

Epsilon and Verizon Media’s new integration comes at a time when marketers have a bleak outlook regarding the elimination of third-party cookies and mobile ad identifiers. Epsilon’s study of more than 250 mid-to-large enterprise marketers, conducted in partnership with global research firm Phronesis Partners Inc., found that 67% of respondents have negative feelings about the changes and nearly half (44%) are disappointed with the plans.

“We’re working hard to make sure that our powerful identity, data and AI capabilities can be activated with the right partners, helping alleviate marketers’ concerns as third-party cookies are eliminated while delivering better, personalized experiences for consumers,” added Elert. “Today, our clients can activate their custom audiences across the massive consumer reach and targeting scale that only Verizon Media can offer.”

About Verizon Media

Verizon Media, a division of Verizon Communications, Inc., houses a trusted media ecosystem of premium brands like Yahoo, TechCrunch and Engadget to help people stay informed and entertained, communicate and transact, while creating new ways for advertisers and media partners to connect. From XR experiences to advertising and content technology, Verizon Media is an incubator of innovation and is revolutionizing the next generation of content creation in a 5G world.