Utiq and Index Exchange bring telcos-backed cookieless solution to advertisers

Utiq, the European adtech group backed by telecoms companies, has partnered with independent supply-side platform Index Exchange to integrate its first-party addressability solution, Authentic Audiences, into the latter.

The solution connects Utiq’s telco partners, publishers and brands through an end-to-end secure consent signal match — a first-party data identifier known as “adtechpass” — to deliver audiences that have “unambiguously and freely” provided consent for marketing purposes.

Index Exchange will now support the pass-through of adtechpass in France, Germany and Spain, with expansion into other European markets “later this year”.

Analysis: Cookieless developments continue

Authentic Audiences rolls out as advertisers continue to test post-cookie solutions, even as Google’s decision to deprecate cookies has been further delayed amid regulatory concerns over its own post-cookie proposition, the Privacy Sandbox.

Earlier this week, the Privacy Sandbox’s terms of services were found to likely be “unfair and illegal” if tested in court, according to due diligence undertaken by Preiskel & Co, the legal counsel for non-profit organisation Movement for an Open Web.

“We have informed the Competition & Markets Authority of the work and expect them to comment in their July 2024 report,” said James Rosewell, director of Movement for an Open Web.

According to a recent survey by Teads, less than half of UK publishers are prepared for the post-cookie future.

Utiq launched in 2023 in parts of Europe and is backed by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone, which hold seats on Utiq’s board. In January, the company expanded its operations to the UK market, led by managing director Sara Vincent.

It delivers an “authentic consent service” that it claims enables a responsible, transparent digital market by offering targeting tools to advertisers even as consumers maintain control and choice over their digital privacy.

Vincent told The Media Leader in January: “We believe it will be a solution that will be privacy-first, because the telcos are one of the most highly regulated industries globally, so you can be assured that nothing we’re doing is in any sort of grey area whatsoever.”

On the Index Exchange tie-up, Will Harmer, Utiq’s chief product officer, said: “This partnership represents a transformation in addressable advertising, enabling the industry to move away from third-party cookies and hybrid IDs, toward the use of data-minimised, deterministic, telco-powered identifiers that safeguard user consent and privacy, whilst maximising and managing true reach and frequency control in targeting real people at scale.”

Also published in: The Media Leader