Glossaryuser dataaudience targeting

User Profile

user profiledevice IDcookieidentifieruser identifieronline user data

User Profile

A user profile is a collection of data describing an individual online user, paired with one or more identifiers — such as a device ID or a cookie — that tie the data to a specific person or device. In AdTech, user profiles are the foundational unit of audience targeting: they allow platforms to recognize a user across sessions and serve relevant advertising based on observed behaviours, interests, demographics, or intent signals.

The identifier component is what makes a profile actionable. Without a stable identifier (or a set of overlapping identifiers), the associated data has no reliable anchor and cannot be matched across ad requests or platforms.

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