At A Glance
Yahoo DSP is building toward a “DSP as infrastructure” model that plugs into advertisers’ existing workflows, tools, and agents. In this Q&A, Yahoo DSP shares how Yahoo ConnectID, interoperability, and Yahoo Blueprint Performance support targeting and measurement across CTV, live sports, and the open web. The interview closes with practical activation plays using Experian Audiences in Yahoo DSP.
In our Ask the Expert Series, we interview leaders from our partner organizations who are helping lead their brands to new heights in AdTech. Today’s interview is with Jessica Rocco, a Business Development Senior Director at Yahoo DSP (demand-side platform), about the shift toward agentic workflows and identity-led performance.
How is Yahoo DSP shifting from a platform to infrastructure?
Yahoo DSP has been positioning itself as more of a data backbone than a destination UI. What are the most important integrations you’re building for, and what does ‘plug-in ready’ look like in practice for an advertiser?
We’re moving from DSPs as destinations to DSPs as infrastructure, as the industry shifts toward agentic workflows. This transformation is driven by data-led decisioning, greater standardization, with the ecosystem ready for it.
The last decade DSP competition has been primarily about UI features. That era is behind us. Today, differentiation comes from exclusivity, integrations, and interoperability. This means at Yahoo DSP we are thinking about where our partners and advertisers are and where they want to be. In practice, that may mean they never log into our UI at all.
Instead, Yahoo DSP becomes a flexible, plug-in-ready infrastructure that integrates directly into their workflows, tools, and agents. That’s why we’re building around two themes:
- Data: Yahoo DSP’s data can be made accessible through performance tools, transforming it into actionable insights that drive better outcomes for advertisers.
- Agentic AI: We see the opportunity to make a range of human and non-human activities more efficient, and we offer different paths based on the advertisers’ needs:
- Use our native agents in Yahoo DSP for better performance and faster execution.
- Combine our tools with external agents to unlock better decisioning and increased automation.
- Fully decouple the concept of UI and enable end-to-end workflows powered by your or your partners’ agents.
In summary, we’re building a flexible and interoperable environment where advertisers can bring their planning, buying, and measurement technologies and leverage the Yahoo data and tools to enable more efficient and higher-performing media buying.
Why does identity sit below the interface at Yahoo DSP?
When you say the advantage sits below the interface, what are the core identity building blocks today, and how are you measuring progress, authenticated reach, match rates, deduplication, or something else?
Yahoo DSP treats identity as the performance layer that runs through the full campaign lifecycle. At Yahoo DSP, the core building block of that advantage is Yahoo ConnectID. It’s always activated in Yahoo DSP and powers every step of the campaign lifecycle. Built on top of our Identity Graph and today reaches 213 million logged-in users in the U.S. and 345 million globally (Yahoo data Q1 2026).
The building blocks of our Identity Graph include:
The proof is in the numbers: 90% of Yahoo DSP spend runs on Yahoo ConnectID-enabled supply, reflecting the scale, trust, and performance that identity-driven activation delivers.
Why do CTV and live sports validate Yahoo DSP’s approach to identity?
Live sports are one of the toughest environments to get right on connected TV (CTV). Why is it a strong showcase for the Yahoo DSP identity approach, and can you share an example of impact you’ve seen on deduplicated reach or cost per unique household?
When it comes to live sports, the challenge is the scale of concurrent viewers. When an ad break occurs during a live sports event, our platform receives a spike of bid requests, which can cause buyers to exhaust their budgets too quickly, leaving valuable inventory unfilled later in the event.
We address this challenge with Yahoo Blueprint Performance, our enhanced AI-driven algorithm, which bids and paces more effectively, with 10x faster response times that consider the size of the spike and the advertiser’s remaining budget and flight (Internal Yahoo DSP data, Q4 2025). The result is not only more of the advertiser’s budget being spent during the event, but also a smoother distribution of impressions throughout the entire event.
Yahoo ConnectID is a key input into Yahoo Blueprint Performance. It enhances effectiveness by enforcing reliable frequency capping at the Household and/or user level, eliminating wasted impressions, improving media budget allocation, and ultimately driving better, more cohesive consumer experiences.
How should marketers activate commerce signals for intent with Yahoo DSP?
As shopper intent and transaction signals come in from commerce partners, what’s the recommended activation workflow, and where do those signals deliver the biggest lift alongside CTV and the open web?
Commerce signals have indeed brought new opportunities for advertisers. Commerce media networks are goldmines of deep audience insights such as consumer behavior, purchasing patterns, product preferences, and more. These addressable audiences offer a perfect opportunity for advertisers to activate effective campaigns. At Yahoo DSP we enable advertisers to activate data from all leading commerce data companies, from retail media networks to travel media networks and a wide range of complementary data partners.
The recommended activation for advertisers is to maximize the effect of these data signals by tying them to a strong identity. This ensures that they maximize their scale and reach consumers across devices and channels. That’s why in Yahoo DSP, Yahoo ConnectID is always on to ensure precision and scale.
Additionally, it’s important that data is being activated across channels, especially CTV. Combining commerce data with CTV enables advertisers to reach engaged audiences while delivering premium, relevant ad experiences. Today, CTV is increasingly influencing mid- and lower-funnel performance. At Yahoo DSP, we provide access to 100% non-walled garden CTV inventory, giving advertisers scaled reach beyond closed ecosystems and enabling consistent identity-based activation across the open web.
Finally, commerce media networks can maximize impact by leveraging solutions that enable them to use their data for measurement and optimization. For example, Yahoo In-Flight Outcomes (IFO) allows advertisers to tie programmatic media investments to sales – even on a SKU level – and in-store visits in near real time. Yahoo Blueprint Performance, our advanced AI model, uses this data for in-flight optimizations that drive results. For example, a leading retail network saw a 22% lift in ROAS when activating Yahoo IFO (Yahoo DSP Q1-Q2 2025).
What drives DSP selection/decision in buyer evaluations in 2026?
In competitive bake-offs, what’s pushing brands and agencies towards their choice of DSP right now: Identity, supply quality, measurement, service model, or economics? And what objections are you hearing most that you’ve had to address head-on?
Identity remains top of mind, as advertisers seek scaled, deterministic reach in a privacy-centric manner. Yahoo ConnectID provides that through the scale and quality of Yahoo data, built on hundreds of millions of authenticated users, enriched by interoperability with all leading data companies, such as Experian. Our foundation enables accurate targeting, holistic frequency management, and true omnichannel measurement, while delivering more cohesive ad experiences for consumers.
Second, supply quality and transparency are common concerns. Advertisers want assurance that they are accessing premium, brand-safe inventory and that their investments are working as intended. We address this through direct publisher relationships, curated supply paths, and transparent buying models that allow advertisers to make efficient, informed decisions.
Measurement is another challenge. Brands increasingly expect programmatic investments to prove impact against real business outcomes, not just media metrics. We meet this head-on with proprietary measurement solutions powered by Yahoo data, such as proprietary studies and Yahoo In-Flight Outcomes, complemented by partnerships with leading third-party vendors.
Our teams act as an extension of internal marketing teams, helping unlock smarter budget allocation and performance optimization. Ultimately, the connective tissue across identity, supply, measurement, and optimization is data. That’s why we continue to see programmatic investment consolidate around platforms that have scaled, high-quality first-party data. Strong 1P data is the backbone of effective programmatic, and we continue to see investment shift toward platforms that can offer it at scale and with quality, and Yahoo DSP remains top of mind for advertisers.
Finally, through our Agentic AI solutions, we increase team efficiency and minimize time spent on manual tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value strategic decisions.
What are practical use cases for Experian Audiences in Yahoo DSP?
With Experian audiences available in Yahoo DSP, what are 2–3 ‘go-to’ plays advertisers should run (e.g., prospecting, mid-funnel qualification, suppression, measurement improvement), and what success metrics should they watch to prove incrementality?
I’ll start with a prospecting use case. Yahoo DSP advertisers can activate Experian’s demographic, lifestyle, household and credit propensity segments to identify high-value prospects, while suppressing their own first-party audiences such as CRM lists, site visitors or recent purchasers to ensure that they are truly reaching net new customers.
Advertisers can easily leverage the Yahoo Conversion API (CAPI) to send conversion data back to Yahoo DSP and be able to track incremental conversions from these new audiences.
Another example is reaching audiences that are in the market for a purchase. In this case, advertisers can combine Experian’s category-specific audiences, such as auto intenders, with Yahoo search signals to intersect household qualification with real-time intent. For example, an automotive brand can reach consumers who not only fall within priority income bands but are also actively searching for vehicle models or categories.
Contact us
About our experts
Jessica Rocco, Senior Director, Business Development at Yahoo DSP
Jessica Rocco is a Senior Director of Business Development for Yahoo Demand-Side Platform (DSP), with over 15 years of experience driving strategic data initiatives and partnerships across the programmatic advertising ecosystem, with a focus on identity, targeting, and measurement.
Latest posts
Adapt with Tapad, a part of Experian Leading browsers have made public announcements and technical deployments to reduce the digital advertising accessibility of third-party cookies for data collection, storage, and sharing due to growing privacy concerns. As a result, there has been growing momentum to find an alternative via cookieless IDs, with the intent to create a replacement that helps ensure continuity across the ecosystem. At Tapad we’ve chosen to approach the market with a solution that provides agnostic interoperability for these cookieless identifiers, so that marketers can continue to work with the identity providers of their choice while maintaining the most holistic view of consumers across digital touchpoints. Introducing switchboard Switchboard is a module within The Tapad Graph that leverages our core capabilities across machine learning and identity management to provide a connection between traditional digital identifiers and the new wave of cookieless IDs that will be utilized in the future. Customers of Tapad can take advantage of its broad ecosystem of identifiers to drive targeting and frequency capping strategies and enable detailed measurement and attribution post-deprecation of the third-party cookie. Our goal is to accelerate the adoption, scale, and utility of cookieless IDs with the release of the Switchboard module within The Tapad Graph, while maintaining an agnostic approach to the market. Switchboard for identity solutions In the evolving landscape agencies and marketers will need to invest, test, and analyze the best combination of cookieless ID partners to meet their objectives. The Switchboard module will increase the utility and value of the cookieless ID space in conjunction with other addressable IDs, by providing a layer of connectivity that will be natively missing with the deprecation of third-party cookies. Identity solutions at launch: Switchboard for graph customers For existing Tapad customers who leverage the Switchboard module in The Tapad Graph, it will provide a seamless way to facilitate interoperability while resolving identity back to a Household or Individual. By providing this translation layer, Tapad will take on the responsibility of encryption and decryption protocols where applicable, which will deliver added functionality to our customers. Tapad + Experian partners at launch: Use cases Resolve existing first-party data with new cookieless solutions through The Tapad Graph to minimize data loss Frequency cap at the Individual and Household level via Cookieless and traditional ID Reach consumers at scale across all touchpoints and IDs Build a more inclusive and holistic view of the consumer journey Run accurate and scalable measurement before and after the formal deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome Map online data into offline activities Hear why industry leaders are adapting with Tapad + Experian As advertisers continue to contemplate the future of identity, Amobee is proud to partner with Tapad, a part of Experian, on this next-generation solution to provide a comprehensive view of consumers. With the imminent loss of cookies, advertisers must think creatively in order to respectfully engage consumers in a privacy-compliant way and Switchboard can play an important role in addressing their respective identity needs. — Bryan Everett | Senior Vice President of Global Business Development | Amobee Connecting offline and online shopper activity in a privacy-compliant way is fundamental to marketing effectiveness and determining return on ad-spend. That’s why we’re excited to be a launch partner for Tapad + Experian's Switchboard offering; it provides a unified solution for supporting the variety of proprietary and anonymous user ID standards required by advertising demand-side platforms today. — Brian Dunphy | SVP Digital Business and Strategic Partnerships | Catalina As the industry evolves, Tapad + Experian's Switchboard presents a privacy-safe solution that allows for the continued activation of data and an alternative to advertising within walled garden environments. We look forward to collaborating with Tapad and the industry as we collectively transition to support cookieless identity. — Don Lee |SVP of Global Platform Partnerships | Eyeota We are excited to participate in this proactive solution to the sunset of third-party cookies. Switchboard’s agnostic interoperability, with BritePool and other ID providers, will create high-value for marketers as they transition to the era of cookieless web advertising. — David J. Moore | CEO | BritePool Interoperability is paramount for brand marketers, agencies, publishers and platforms if we want to support an open and free Internet and break free of the stranglehold of walled gardens. Lotame Panorama ID’s participation in Switchboard reflects our steadfast commitment to collaborating across and within the industry and providing value to all of its players. — Pierre Diennet | Global Partnerships | Lotame At this pivotal moment in the industry, we are excited to be partnering with Tapad, a part of Experian on their cookieless initiative and making Retargetly IDx available into the Switchboard solution, providing global brands, platforms and publishers with a compliant, cookieless ID solution for the Latin American market; enabling them to target, reach and measure users at scale through the region. — Daniel Czaplinski | CEO and Co-Founder | Retargetly With Audigent’s Halo ID, we’re architecting a cookieless future where clients and partners have confidence in the actionability and interoperability of exclusive 1st party audiences, originated from some of the world’s leading publishers and creators. We see collaboration as being critical to a collective understanding of identity and Tapad, a part of Experian as a trusted partner with solutions such as Switchboard to support continuity for marketers’ addressability. — Drew Stein | CEO and Founder | Audigent Facilitating access and usage of 1st party identifiers is crucial to help marketers prepare for the cookieless future. Thanks to Switchboard, ID5’s cookie-less IDs will be available to a wider audience of brands and agencies and enable them to run effective, data-driven campaigns beyond the third-party cookie. — Mathieu Roche | CEO and Co-Founder | ID5 Addressing the current identity challenge requires transparency and collaboration. We are pleased to align ShareThis data with Tapad + Experian’s growing ecosystem. ShareThis data helps marketers evolve beyond the cookie to complete the picture. Tapad + Experian’s Switchboard offering will support ShareThis’s deep connections to clients and technology platforms, preserving and growing the accessibility of our data. — Michael Gorman | SVP Product and Business Development | ShareThis Get in touch
With the emergence of email addresses as a currency for brands to communicate with their consumers offline; attaching email data to in-store purchases lays the groundwork for future advertising strategies. However, this advantage in having an additional digital touchpoint also creates a new challenge for marketers. How do they connect what they know about their customers via offline data and PII, or personally identifiable information, with what they want to know about their online behaviors and interactions? Taken a step further, how can they create actionable strategies that connect these two streams of consumer insights in order to drive them to make more future purchases; and even become loyalists? At a time when the shift from traditional to online shopping feels more like a landslide; connecting online and offline data has never been more valuable or more urgent. The solution for these marketers lies in the framework of identity resolution; and a key capability called hashed email onboarding. Hashed email onboarding is a privacy-safe way to connect consumer email addresses to their related digital devices and other digital identifiers. The methodology prevents the consumers actual email address from being readable; while still providing marketers a connection between those emails and other touchpoints for an individual. Instead of understanding the customer journey in two distinct parts; how they interact with a brand or company offline and separately how they interact with a brand online; hashed email onboarding allows for the two parts to be woven together in a holistic view of that consumer. The power of connecting these data sets can be seen when combining offline and online attribution and measurement to improve frequency capping and look-alike modeling. It’s important to note that not all identity resolution vendors that onboard hashed emails function in the same way or provide the same level of data. Some connect only to desktop or only to mobile devices; while others don’t actually make direct linkages at all- they simply provide the hashed emails as a targetable digital audience for upload. While hashed email onboarding and the connection between offline and online data is a powerful strategy; it needs to be as structured as possible across the most data available to reveal truly efficient targeting and measurement strategies. Tapad, a part of Experian has built a hashed email product feature that works with the existing flexibility of The Tapad Graph to deliver the most holistic consumer view in the structure that works best for your business objectives. Get in touch
To our valued customers and partners, it’s been an exciting week here at Tapad! As announced in a press release this morning, Tapad is now a member of the Experian family. We’re thrilled to continue to grow as a leader in identity resolution under the umbrella of a global expert in data, analytics and technology. Tapad and Experian are deeply connected by our commitment to serving the needs of our customers; and with a focus on quality of the data we provide, we have a common goal for the future of identity in the advertising ecosystem. As part of this announcement, we wanted to assure you, our valued customer, that we remain deeply committed to serving you today just as we always have. Nothing will change in your daily operations with Tapad. Experian immediately recognized that the success and growth of Tapad was directly tied to the strength and depth of its team members. As such, the acquisition will not result in any changes to day-to-day contacts at Tapad, or processes with weekly graph deliveries and other product support. Experian’s faith and investment in Tapad’s future and the future of identity resolution underscores what we’ve always believed our products could achieve and that we will be able to continue serving brands, advertisers, publishers, and the advertising and marketing ecosystem for years to come. On a personal note, I am excited to be transitioning my role as Chief Operating Officer of Tapad to the General Manager position of a global business that’s achieved exponential growth over the past several years; culminating in this strategic acquisition that will no doubt bring even more value to our customers in the future. We remain committed to open communication and welcome any questions you may have. Thank you,Mark Connon | General Manager, Tapad Contact us today