From Advertising Week:
Every few months a new term gains popularity, and people start tossing it around. This phenomenon has become so ingrained in the ad tech industry that we have all come to expect a new “WTF is…” article to come out as soon as any new term arises. Terms like “programmatic advertising” or “supply side targeting” aren’t particularly intuitive to the average person and so people feel comfortable asking what they mean. However, in other cases, a new term arises that does sound intuitive, and people start making assumptions.
Identity resolution is one such term. Clearly it means “resolving” something that’s related to someone’s identity. Most people assume this means bringing data together about an individual. At a basic level, that assumption is correct, but it can get companies into trouble. Identity resolution actually refers to a variety of actions in order to resolve data into a unified record, and companies won’t have a complete view of their audiences unless they understand the full picture of identity resolution.