Seller Defined Audiences (SDA)

Seller Defined Audiences (SDA) is an IAB Tech Lab standard that provides a privacy-safe way for publishers to monetise their first-party data. It addresses the deprecation of third-party cookies by shifting from an identity-based model to a cohort-based one.

How it works:

1. Publisher Defines
   Publishers analyse their own first-party data (e.g., content consumption, sign-up information) and create audience segments, like “luxury shoppers” or “tech enthusiasts.”
2. Labelling
   They then apply these audience segment labels directly to their ad inventory using existing programmatic frameworks like Prebid.
3. Buyer Targets
   Advertisers and Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) receive these labels in the bid request and can target or bid higher for inventory that aligns with their campaign goals, all without ever receiving a user’s personal ID or cookie.

Explore the Topic Further:

IAB Tech Lab – Seller Defined Audiences
Avenga – Seller Defined Audiences Explained
Adweek – Early Industry Discussion of SDA