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How accurate third-party data leads the way for advertisers

by Experian Marketing Services 5 min read January 5, 2024

At A Glance

Truthset’s latest analysis reaffirms Experian as the leader in third-party data accuracy. Advertisers and partners can rely on Experian’s validated, AI-powered solutions to reduce waste, improve personalization, and drive measurable marketing outcomes grounded in accuracy.

Experian continues to lead in data accuracy according to Truthset’s latest analysis

Advertisers, technology partners, and agencies are all chasing accurate data to power their marketing strategies. But not all data is created equal. Truthset’s latest findings confirm Experian’s leadership in third-party data accuracy, giving brands and agencies confidence in every decision they make.

Accurate data is the foundation for predictive insight, real-time intelligence, and AI-powered personalization. Experian’s AI-driven solutions help marketers move from data to action, delivering more relevant messages with less waste.

Truthset’s independent study found that up to 51% of ad targeting data is inaccurate, with accuracy rates ranging between 32% and 69% across providers. This reinforces the importance of validated, trusted data from partners like Experian.

The data quality challenge

Inaccurate data can lead to:

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Wasted ad spend

Without accurate data at the start, marketers can’t reach the right audiences, resulting in wasted impressions.

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Privacy and compliance risks

In an increasingly privacy-centric world, advertisers need to be especially mindful of accurate targeting to avoid putting their brand reputation at risk.

Poor campaign performance

Low-quality data skews metrics and attribution models, making it difficult to measure campaign success and optimize spend.

Low-quality data can come in different forms, like inconsistent or outdated information – think demographics (age, gender) and interests (dog versus cat lover), or simply the wrong relationship can be made between data sets. Data records can be incomplete or duplicative, and data segments could be misclassified or inaccurate. For example, a kids’ snack food company may think they’re targeting a 35-year-old man, who lives in the suburbs with his young family, when in fact it’s a 65-year-old woman who moved to the city after her kids went to college. That’s wasted investment.

As data ecosystems grow more complex, that’s where Experian’s AI-powered simplicity comes in. We can clean, enrich, and infer missing signals, helping you act on incomplete or imperfect data with greater confidence.

Building a solid data foundation

Accurate data is essential for personalization and trust. According to eMarketer, more than 75% of internet users worldwide are willing to share their email address, brand interest, and name in exchange for personalized experiences. Without accurate data, marketers won’t be able to provide the level of personalization that consumers desire.

But personalization at scale requires more than just data, it needs intelligence. Experian’s AI-powered capabilities, including predictive models, transform clean, validated data into meaningful engagement strategies that balance performance with privacy. Independent validation from Truthset ensures that Experian’s data remains among the most accurate in the ecosystem.

“As cookies and mobile ad identifiers continue to phase out, consented, durable identifiers (hashed email, postal addresses) are going to serve as the foundation for identity solutions of the future. And the only way to ensure you are transacting on the highest quality identity and demography data is to actively validate the data you rely on with a third party.”

TruthsetChip Russo, President

Experian’s commitment to data accuracy

Since joining the Truthset Data Collective in 2023, Experian continues to be the industry leader in data accuracy. Truthset’s latest Q2 2025 analysis reaffirms our leadership in data accuracy:

  • Experian is the #1 data provider of largest volume of high-accuracy hashed emails (HEMs)
  • Experian ranks #1 in accuracy for eight marketing data attributes, including but not limited to Age, Geography, Presence of Children, and Education
  • Experian ranks #1 or #2 for 22 of the 24 attributes, and #3 for the two others (out of 12 companies being analyzed)
  • Experian consistently has the largest number of HEMs that are 90% or more likely to be accurate

“As a member of the Truthset Data Collective, Experian received top ranks across a variety of categories for its data. The entire digital advertising world runs on data, but focusing on data accuracy is going to drive the next phase of innovation for the industry, enhancing ROI for advertisers, CPMs for publishers, and relevant experiences for consumers.”

TruthsetChip Russo, President


As Truthset’s recent study highlights, the data matched between hashed emails and postal addresses is crucial, underpinning everything from targeted ads to TV audience measurement. Highly accurate HEMs linked to high-quality demographic data should be the foundation of any marketing plan. Advertisers are able to overcome the complexities of identity resolution by tying online and offline touchpoints together to deliver a consistent message across channels.

Real-time relevance, powered by ethical AI
Experian combines validated identity data with intelligent technology to deliver marketing that works for people and brands.

Companies are striving to eliminate marketing waste and provide consumers with personalized marketing and the advertising industry can have confidence that Experian’s marketing data has been externally validated as being highly accurate. The accuracy of our data will power better marketing initiatives, like insights, targeting, identity, and measurement.

Whether you’re optimizing for reach, relevance, or ROI, AI is changing how marketing works. Experian’s human-centered, privacy-first AI makes it easier to adapt, act faster, and connect with consumers in ways that are more meaningful.

Let’s start a conversation about how we can fully realize the potential of data-driven advertising together.

Contact us today

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FAQs

What is Truthset, and why does their validation matter?

Truthset is an independent data validation company that reviews and ranks data providers based on accuracy. Their ratings help advertisers understand which data sources they can trust. Experian ranks #1 in data accuracy according to Truthset.

How does Experian’s performance compare to others in Truthset’s study?

Experian ranks #1 for accuracy in multiple categories, including Age, Geography, and Presence of Children, and holds the largest number of hashed emails that are 90% or more likely to be accurate.

Why is data accuracy so important for marketers?

Accurate data is important for marketers because it leads to more efficient targeting, reduced ad waste, and better campaign performance. It also reduces compliance risk by helping advertisers engage responsibly. Experian’s data is ranked #1 in data accuracy according to Truthset.

How does Experian use AI responsibly?

Experian’s privacy-first, AI-driven models clean, enrich, and validate data while respecting consent and ethical standards.

How can advertisers get started with Experian’s data?

Connect with the Experian team to learn how our validated data and AI-powered solutions can strengthen your targeting, insights, and ROI.


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Tapad, a part of Experian, and Autotrader partner to deliver more meaningful cross-device connections for automotive brands

Autotrader leverages The Tapad Device GraphTM to achieve higher performance and reach new audiences across all devices New York, NY – September 6, 2017 – Tapad, the leader in cross-device marketing technology and now a part of Experian, today revealed findings from a campaign conducted with Autotrader which connects with more actual car buyers than any other third-party listing site.* Autotrader’s premium audience, combined with the Tapad Device GraphTM, delivered significant audience extension across desktop, mobile, and tablet to drive awareness and maximize both reach and delivery across screens. To help analyze shopping behaviors across multiple devices, the global automotive brand for this campaign turned to Autotrader and Tapad, who created a cross-device pre-roll video strategy with a focus on viewability, concentrating on potential customers already searching for vehicles. By using a one-to-one connection, instead of look-alike modeling, Tapad also ensured that the automotive brand discovered only new consumers across all of their devices. This approach discovered a new potential audience of more than 14 million consumers, eliminated communication waste and the risk of duplicates, increased overall performance, and ensured more of their campaign dollars reached meaningful audiences. Overall, this case study represents a leap forward in terms of audience-based targeting and the highly-sought after multi-touch attribution modeling. “We really enjoy working with the team at Tapad to help execute our Audience Extension campaigns”, said Lynne Green, product manager at Autotrader. “Their ability to meet the demands of an ever-changing industry, as well as their dependable customer service has allowed us to confidently deliver against our unique in-market automotive audience and provide our clients ongoing messaging opportunities to our audience beyond Autotrader.com.” “How identity relates to conversion behavior is a complex part of any advertising campaign,” said Jeff Kelosky, RVP and head of global automotive at Tapad. “After identifying auto consumer’s behavioral patterns and device usage while shopping for vehicles, we knew we could successfully help Autotrader and its automotive brand clients maximize campaign viewability and drive results.” To learn more about using Audience Extension with Autotrader, click here. For more about the Tapad Device GraphTM, or to request a demo, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync Contact us today

Published: Sep 06, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

Tapad, now a part of Experian, announces forward progress through The Trade Desk integration

With campaigns applied to seven major holding companies, Tapad continues to see healthy adoption with The Trade Desk clients NEW YORK, NY – August 23, 2017 - Tapad, now a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, today announced its ongoing momentum with The Trade Desk, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTD), a global technology platform for buyers of advertising. Tapad is providing cross-device segments from the groundbreaking Tapad Device GraphTM through The Trade Desk’s platform. Since 2015, Tapad has seen steady growth in the use of its cross-device data across The Trade Desk platform. This forward progress continues, as 1H2017 saw important milestones for Tapad. Seven major private and independent holding companies now apply Tapad’s data to their campaigns, in addition to more than 1,500 unique brands. Tapad’s proprietary Device GraphTM connects billions of devices, providing unified and insightful data for brands, agencies, and marketers across the globe. Several of these clients, representing varying industries from financial, to auto, CPG and retail, apply Tapad’s data across a number of key tactics and strategies, including: first party CRM extension, third party audience extension, cross-device retargeting, cross-device frequency management, and more. Clients in these verticals continue to rely on Tapad’s cross-device data, as Tapad saw the amount of usage by financial and retail clients grow by four times over the past year, and double for automotive and CPG clients. “We are pleased to offer our clients access to Tapad’s device graph”, said David Danziger, VP of Data Partnerships, The Trade Desk. “Their cross-device identification capabilities have been a powerful addition to our omnichannel platform.” “This integration is a shining example of the amplifying effect of two of the best platforms working together,” said Chris Feo, SVP of Global Partnerships at Tapad. "Clients leveraging Tapad's Device Graph in The Trade Desk platform have the potential to see higher returns and reach with access to substantial cross-device data, as well as a very effective media platform." Contact us today

Published: Aug 23, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

Tapad, a part of Experian, partners with Sojern to simplify the complex travel consumer journey

Tapad Device Graph™ and Sojern’s mobile offering unify travel intent signals; achieve amplification rate of more than 600 percent NEW YORK, June 15, 2017 – Tapad, a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, is partnering with Sojern, travel’s direct demand engine, to provide marketers with an even stronger understanding of travelers as they research and shop across multiple devices. Combined with its 350 million global traveler profiles and billions of predictive purchase intent signals, Sojern utilizes the Tapad Device Graph™ to resolve the complex travel consumer journey, target travelers more precisely, and derive more actionable insights for its travel clientele. According to Sojern’s research, travelers visit hundreds of websites preceding their trip purchase, with some consumers reaching upwards of 450 touchpoints prior to booking. Sojern’s partnership with Tapad will help unify these touchpoints across devices, enabling travel brands to more effectively nurture and engage potential buyers during the purchase process, regardless of which device they use. “Sojern’s been focused on travel for over a decade, helping brands activate predictive purchase signals and leverage our traveler profiles into effective performance marketing campaigns,” said Mat Harris, Sojern’s VP of Product, Enterprise Solutions. “The cross-device insights we gain from the Tapad Device Graph provide a valuable tool for our customers to reach travelers across devices in real-time and at scale, on the right device.” Prior to selecting Tapad as its cross-device partner, Sojern surveyed several probabilistic and deterministic cross-device vendors and performed an extensive global test. The test was an examination of scale, match rate and several other factors, which enabled Sojern to learn as much as possible about each vendor. After examining the final test results, Sojern selected Tapad based on its excellent test performance, tried-and-true experience in the market and complimentary business model. To date, Sojern has already seen an amplification rate of more than 600 percent as a result of the integration, meaning that the Tapad Device Graph is connecting an average of six or more device and browser IDs for every one existing Sojern ID. “Not only is Sojern a compatible partner for our singular Device Graph capabilities, but they are also an incredible data partner to help expand our work in the travel industry,” said Pierre Martensson, SVP and GM of Tapad’s global data division. “Working with the team at Sojern allows us to solve a true challenge within the travel industry today: creating a unified view of customers so travel brands can better understand and access their key audiences at every point along their path to purchase.” Contact us today

Published: Jun 15, 2017 by Experian Marketing Services

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At Experian Marketing Services, we use data and insights to help brands have more meaningful interactions with people. As leaders in the evolution of the advertising landscape, Experian Marketing Services can help you identify your customers and the right potential customers, uncover the most appropriate communication channels, develop messages that resonate, and measure the effectiveness of marketing activities and campaigns.

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