Frequently Asked Questions
The Commerce Grid Data Marketplace allows publishers to boost yield and attract demand by leveraging data from various sources to create unique supply packages.
The following guide provides answers to commonly asked questions regarding 3rd Party data. For more technical information about The Data Marketplace, contact your Commerce Grid customer service team.
Q: What is the difference between 1st and 3rd-party data?
A: 1st Party Data (1PD) is observed or owned data. 1PD is typically the most valuable data source because a pub knows precisely the behaviors and attributes of these users.
Examples:
A publisher's logged-in users
Users who have signed up for a pub's email list
An advertiser's purchasers and site visitors
3rd Party Data (3PD) is data collected by another company and licensed for use. Useful when 1PD isn’t available or when broad categories will work. Many data provider companies exist and provide access to 3PD.
Examples:
Modeled demographic data segments from a large data provider
Shopping Data from a credit card company
Q: What data segments are being made available?
A: The Commerce Grid Data Marketplace is launching with LiveRamp, Lotame and Grapeshot by Oracle as the primary 3rd party data providers.
There is a vast array of segments to select from within each provider’s taxonomies, which include audience segments broken out by Demographics, Interest Categories and In-Market purchase categories.
After launch, we will be working to integrate new 3rd party data providers, some examples of which include: Bluekai (Oracle), Permutive and Acxiom.
Q: Are there any geo-restrictions on specific data providers?
A: Yes. Data providers are available within the below geos:
LiveRamp: North America only
Lotame: Available globally (key data sets for EU, APAC and LATAM)
Grapeshot: Available globally
Q: How are they priced?
A: 3rd party data segments are priced on a CPM basis ranging from $0.25 - $1. Grapeshot contextual filters are priced between $0.03 and $0.25. We are exploring additional models, such as pricing based on media cost.
Q: Will I ever get charged for data? Will I see how much data is ‘costing’ me via Slicer or on the invoice?
A: While there is no fee to access and use the Data Marketplace, publishers will be charged a data fee for any 3rd party-data segments they elect to target.
To track data costs, pull a U-Slicer usage report, including the " data fee " field.
At the end of each billing period, total data costs will be reflected on your monthly invoice as a single line item.
Q: How does the fee get taken (bid reduction, as part of the monthly invoice, etc)?
A: All 3P data fees are taken as a bid reduction of Gross Demand Spend (ie what we send to the DSP).
The simplified formula for this calculation is:
Gross Demand Spend = Supply Media Cost + Data Fee
Q: Can I forecast avails when I overlay specific data segments on my supply?
A: Forecasting is available for individual segments. We cannot yet forecast using multiple segments or different data providers, but this functionality will be available soon (Q2 2023).
Q: Can I use multiple data segments together (gender + age)? If yes, can they be from different data providers (Grapeshot + Lotame)?
A: Yes, multiple data segments from the SAME data provider can be layered on top of supply into a single deal. Layering segments from MULTIPLE providers is not yet available but will be in an upcoming release (Q2 2023).
When multiple data segments are selected, you will be charged based on the cost of the segment with the highest price. Please note that forecasting is not available when multiple segments are selected.
Q: Can I layer 1st-party and 3rd-party data into a single deal?
A: The Data Marketplace technically supports layering of 1PD and 3PD in some cases (i.e. when LiveRamp is the 1PD onboarder). However, we encourage publishers to limit the layering of 3PD onto 1PD to avoid reducing scale and to ensure buyers can properly maximize reach against your valuable first-party users.
If you have a specific use case where 1PD and 3PD layering is critical, please reach out to your Commerce Grid customer service team to discuss technical viability.
Q: How often are the data segments refreshed?
A: This will vary by partner. Audience data is refreshed/updated 1x week.
Q: What additional 3rd-party data integrations do you have on the roadmap?
A: We have several 3rd-party data providers planned for future integration. Some examples include:
Bluekai by Oracle
Permutive 3rd Party Cohorts
Axciom
Q: When targeting Grapeshot, can I activate my own Grapeshot custom segments via this setup?
A: We can support exposing custom Grapeshot segments within the UI.
To initiate the process, please get in touch with your Customer Service team. You will also need to:
Manually create a separate account per each custom segment you’d like to distribute in Grapeshot’s UI (aka Zone)
Manually upload the keywords
Confirm with your CS team once complete
From there, we will permission your custom segments to be exposed to ONLY you.