ID Bridging, or identity bridging, refers to the process of linking separate user identities generated across different digital environments - such as multiple domains, devices, authentication systems, or tracking platforms - to build a consistent, persistent, and actionable view of the user across the entire customer journey.
In today’s landscape - marked by the phase-out of third-party cookies and the rise of fragmented touchpoints (websites, mobile apps, social logins, eCommerce, in-store interactions) - each user session can generate a different identifier: cookie ID, device ID, hashed email, CRM ID, mobile or web user-ID, among others. Without a system to connect them, each interaction risks being treated as a separate user, leading to data duplication, fragmented campaigns, and inaccurate measurement.
The goal of ID Bridging is to close these identification gaps by matching various identifiers and recognizing the same user across devices, platforms and access modes.
By applying deterministic techniques (e.g., matching hashed email across sessions) and probabilistic ones (e.g., analyzing behavioral patterns or aggregated technical signals), it becomes possible to reliably connect fragmented identities and enable:
- Cross-device and cross-domain recognition, even without explicit login;
- Reconciliation between anonymous and authenticated environments, in full privacy compliance;
- Creation of a persistent, enriched, and continuously updated Single Customer View;
- Consistent activation across multiple channels: email, SMS, media, CRM, ad platforms;
The success of an ID Bridging initiative depends on the availability of consented first-party data, a unified data foundation (such as a marketing-centric data warehouse), and a platform capable of handling identity resolution, mapping and operational activation.
ID Bridging in the Bytek Prediction Platform
The Bytek Prediction Platform includes an advanced Cross-Site ID Bridging solution, designed to enable continuous user recognition across diverse digital environments, while ensuring full compliance with privacy regulations.
How It Works
The process has three main stages:
Collection and normalization of identifiers
The platform ingests data from multiple sources (CRM, websites, apps, eCommerce systems) and links each event to available identifiers such as Hashed Email (HEM), Persistent ID, Cookie ID, or User-ID.
Identity resolution via logical mapping
Using its Identity Resolution module, the platform builds equivalence maps between identifiers and selects a primary ID for each user. This ensures consistent tracking even in the absence of explicit logins or third-party cookies.
Unification and enrichment of the user profile
Reconciled events are unified into a single profile, tied to a persistent Single Customer View. At this stage, predictive models (such as purchase propensity or CLTV) can be applied, and segments activated across advertising platforms, marketing automation tools and CRM systems.
Why Choose Bytek’s ID Bridging Solution
Bytek Prediction's ID Bridging module offers the following advantages:
- Overcomes the limitations of cookie-based targeting;
- Enables cross-channel retargeting and personalization even in cookieless environments;
- Enhances profile quality and predictive model accuracy;
- Supports activation based on real, reliable, and consented data;
- Reduces waste and improves the effectiveness of paid campaigns.