User Identity Matching: How Platforms Do It, Limitations, and Does Extending Help Campaign Performance

In this episode of the Conversion Tracking Playbook, Brad and John discuss user identification, or user IDs, and three important things to know about them. They explain user IDs with an analogy of phone calls to GA4, emphasizing the need for a unifying account ID to connect user events due to the internet's stateless nature. They highlight that user IDs are typically device-based, residing in cookies, and discuss the implications of cookie expiration on user identification. They also explore how user identification differs across channels, noting that each channel generally uses its own user ID through alphanumeric IDs, PII data, or cookie information. The speakers also discuss how extending user IDs can improve data quality and accuracy for marketing platforms, leading to better personalization, conversion rates, and paid marketing performance.