Inside identity: Strategy, signal, and smart data moves with Optable’s Alexandre Guertin-Aird 

Third-party cookies are on life support. Programmatic is evolving fast. And the only thing publishers can truly control? Their data. That’s where identity strategy becomes the make-or-break factor.

Recently, Rob sat down with Alexandre Guertin-Aird, VP of Customer Solutions at Optable, to talk about how leading publishers are rethinking identity, enrichment, and monetization.

Whether you're building your first-party graph from scratch, or trying to squeeze more out of your existing setup, Alexandre offers a clear view into what works, what doesn’t, and where the real ROI is hiding.

Rob: I agree that the first step in building an identity strategy is to determine goals and requirements, but I know people struggle at this phase, in part because it spans multiple departments. What have you seen some of your best clients do that helped them nail this phase?

Alexandre: The most consistent pattern we see is strong internal ownership. The clients who succeed in this phase usually have a clear internal champion - someone who understands the strategic importance of identity and takes accountability across teams. That person might sit in product, audience development, adops, or even revenue - what matters is that they have the mandate and persistence to drive alignment.

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In more complex organizations, this leader often needs executive sponsorship - from a CRO, CDO, or head of digital - to break down silos. We’ve seen this work incredibly well across organizations like Unity, Hearst, and SJC. These teams didn’t treat identity like a “tech project.” They started with the business case - how it impacts revenue, profitability, and growth. Then, they built cross-functional working groups that included stakeholders from audience, adops, legal, data engineering, and product strategy. That early alignment is what sets the foundation for long-term success.

Rob: Success can take many different forms, and you outline several success metrics to help align expectations. For many people advocating for investment in this area, quick wins are key. What’s some low-hanging fruit most publishers can go after?

Alexandre: The quickest path to ROI is typically through injecting more signal into the programmatic bid stream using the publisher’s own identity graph. We’ve seen clear lifts in CPMs and fill rates when more signal is present - it’s one of the most immediate levers publishers can pull when it comes to addressability.

The challenge is that publishers either feel they don't have enough first-party data to make a difference, or they don't have the technical resources to manage the integrations (or a combination of both). To solve this, we developed our ID Switchboard solution, which simplifies integration with both enrichment sources and alternative ID frameworks. It removes the friction and technical overhead that many publishers face. With this approach, we've seen publishers report 4-7% lifts in open programmatic revenue, and ROI often multiplies 5x within just a few months.

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There are other tools that offer similar capabilities, but many come with costly rev-share models. We believe publishers should own their own graph. That control unlocks not only immediate monetization, but also sets the stage for audience enrichment and data collaboration strategies down the road.

Rob: Of the steps outlined, where do you feel most publishers need to spend more time than they anticipate?

Alexandre: Great question, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The big one is developing a cohesive ad monetization strategy that unifies both direct and programmatic sales. The old playbook of direct for premium, and programmatic for remnant inventory, doesn’t apply anymore. DealIDs, cookie deprecation, and agency curation have blurred those lines.

Today, publishers must manage multiple demand channels - including fellow media owners! - and think critically about rate card strategy, yield management, and channel conflict. Publishers who work hard to align their internal monetization teams, and treat identity as core infrastructure rather than an afterthought, will see great results in both the long and short term.

Another important factor is ensuring that the programmatic setup is technically sound. Too many calls on the page can lead to errors, latency, or other unexpected behaviors that can ultimately prevent the enrichment of bid requests.

Rob: There are so many identifiers in the marketplace and it feels like buyers are using all of them. Should publishers focus on just a few major ones, or try to integrate as many as possible?

Alexandre: This is a great follow-up to the previous question because it highlights the need for publishers to think strategically and long-term when selecting identity partners. Not all IDs are created equal - some are better integrated with programmatic, whereas others shine in direct-sold environments. For example, if premium ad deals are a priority, it makes sense to focus on identifiers that are well-integrated with direct channels, not just programmatic. From there, other factors come into play - such as security, transparency, buy-side adoption, coverage across key markets, and whether the ID can be implemented into header bidding setups.

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At Optable, our customer success and solutions teams work closely with publishers to navigate this complexity, often by running tests across multiple identifiers. We always recommend working with a select mix of partners to maximize coverage and flexibility. Testing is essential, but the strategy should be deliberate, not just additive.

Rob: How can I collaborate with identity enrichment partners and integrate my own first-party data into the mix, ensuring my inventory stands out? Is that possible… and practical?

Alexandre: Not only is it possible - it’s one of the most common use cases we support. It starts with building a first-party identity graph, which means centralizing your data and resolving it into identity clusters. With Optable, publishers can use SDKs, APIs, and direct integrations to onboard and resolve data in a privacy-safe way.

We’ve built a flexible architecture that supports enrichment both in real time and in batches. We also normalize and prune third-party datasets automatically, so publishers aren’t wasting internal resources on manual data cleanup.

To preserve integrity, we recommend publishers maintain separate graphs for third-party enrichment data - this protects the core identity graph while still leveraging enrichment to enhance addressability.

Once the graph is live, Optable’s ID Switchboard becomes a unified, dynamic dataset that can support many use cases, and allows publishers to inject identity signals into bid requests using a wide array of alternative ID frameworks - like UID 2.0, Yahoo Connect ID, or Criteo Encrypted HEM. This makes inventory more addressable, improves advertiser targeting, and ultimately drives higher yield - all while staying privacy-compliant.

What’s Next for You?

Whether you’re a publisher with deep first-party data, or just beginning your identity journey, one theme is clear: strategy trumps tools. Identity isn’t a tech project - it’s a business initiative that requires internal champions, cross-functional collaboration, and deliberate planning. As Alexandre emphasizes, publishers who build for flexibility and ownership today are the ones best positioned to grow, adapt, and win tomorrow.

This is content created in paid partnership with Optable. We only feature partners who we believe bring real value to the publisher community.