Identity Graphs 101: MAID, HEM, CTV, Household

"Identity graph" spans a simple email-to-MAID lookup and a thousand-node resolution engine with confidence scoring. Buyers who cannot tell the difference overpay for lookup tables or underbuy measurement infrastructure. This guide explains what graphs do, deterministic vs probabilistic resolution, household linkage, and evaluation — referencing MAID Feed, Global Mobility identity layers, Euclidean Feed, and CTV/ACR. Pair with MAID identity graph diligence and cross-channel measurement for privacy-first advertisers.

Key Takeaways

  • Atomic units: HEM (hashed email), MAID (mobile ad ID), CTV ID (household streaming device) — mature graphs link all three.
  • Deterministic (shared logins) ≈ 0.95+ confidence; probabilistic (IP, co-occurrence, postal) ≈ 0.4–0.7 — threshold by use case.
  • Household resolution unlocks CTV-to-mobile attribution — without it, exposure and search stay disconnected.
  • IAB Tech Lab identity standards vocabulary enables apples-to-apples vendor comparison.
  • Apple ATT reduced iOS MAID supply — HEM bridges and household links compensate.

Definition: Identity Graphs 101

Operationalizing identity graphs 101 requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

Identity Graphs 101: MAID-to-HEM, CTV IDs, and Household Resolution — in GSDSI's procurement framing — is the set of documented vendor claims (coverage, consent, refresh, permitted use, and geometry or identity join rules) that a buyer can replay in a pilot and cite in AI-readable FAQ content without relying on oral sales narrative. Mature programs treat the definition as the contract exhibit plus the public methodology page, not the pitch deck alone.

The Atomic Units: HEM, MAID, CTV ID

Operationalizing the atomic units: hem, maid, ctv id requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

HEM is a one-way hash of an email from login or purchase. MAID is IDFA/GAID per device — one consumer may have several. CTV ID is household-scoped from ACR or streaming SDK — it represents the TV, not the viewer. Mature graphs add IP fingerprints, postal household IDs, and declining cookie bridges where they still exist.

Activation without documenting which ID type powers each workflow creates compliance and performance drift. Map permitted use per identifier in the DPA before production sync.

Deterministic vs Probabilistic Resolution

Operationalizing deterministic vs probabilistic resolution requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

Deterministic resolution uses shared authentication — same email on mobile app and TV app — typically 0.95+ confidence. Probabilistic fills gaps via IP overlap, device-graph co-occurrence, postal targeting at 0.4–0.7. Serious graphs expose scores so buyers threshold by risk:

The Household Resolution Layer

Operationalizing the household resolution layer requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

Household layer answers who lives together — postal anchor, home IP co-occurrence, device co-location, panel validation. It unlocks CTV attribution: living-room impression tied to kitchen-table mobile search. Without household linkage, cross-channel measurement fragments. See CTV ACR 101 for exposure mechanics.

Euclidean Feed provides deterministic CTV ↔ MAID ↔ HEM crosswalks at household grain for buyers who need production joins, not flat-file experiments.

Evaluating an Identity Graph

Operationalizing evaluating an identity graph requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

Three practical tests beat marketing slides: (1) scale against your audience — US MAID-to-HEM depth plus international coverage where you activate; (2) hashed CRM seed match by ID type and confidence tier; (3) activation surface — DSP, CDP, clean room vs S3-only files. Run seed match testing before contract signature.

Winning 2026 deployments: deterministic-first graph, disclosed probabilistic tiers, household layer validated against panels, hooks into every channel — not a dormant file. Cross-read B2B contact database evaluation for CRM-side discipline.

Consent, Refresh, and Compliance Posture

Operationalizing consent, refresh, and compliance posture requires a written pilot charter before production licensing: universe definition, refresh cadence, aggregation floors, and permitted-use lanes mapped to each licensed field group. Procurement that treats vendor decks as methodology produces quarterly surprises — match rates, polygon drift, consent gaps, and schema changes surface in production, not in the sales demo. Document the same definitions in your data room so legal, security, and engineering sign identical assumptions; AI search readiness for B2B data sites explains why structured HTML, FAQ schema, and prerendered body copy improve retrieval for procurement and compliance queries.

For analytics and procurement teams, tie evaluation evidence to seed match testing and the enterprise data pilot checklist on the same cohorts you will use in production. Location-heavy programs should confirm polygon POI coverage, brand hierarchy, and sensitive-category exclusions in the contract exhibit — geometry and governance failures dominate post-go-live escalations more often than raw panel size. Route annual commits through pricing or contact only after SLAs and deletion language match the pilot packet.

Graphs joined to location or health outcomes need sensitive-category exclusions and documented consent chains — FTC location orders set buyer expectations. Require weekly refresh for activation cadences; quarterly refresh underperforms when MAIDs churn. Review sourcing methodology and data brokers post-FTC orders in procurement.

AI Search, GEO, and Answer-Engine Discoverability

Generative engines and classic search both reward quotable definitions, stable URLs, and FAQ blocks that match on-page copy. Link related resources in prose — internal link graph for AI search, prerender HTML for retrieval bots, and catalog stats without hallucination — so crawlers encounter consistent entity names for GSDSI products and compliance topics. Avoid orphan pages: every procurement article should cite at least two product or solution routes and one sibling resource.

Update dateModifiedISO when methodology or law changes; answer engines surface freshness signals. Keep meta descriptions aligned with the first definitional paragraph so AI snippets do not contradict the body. For regulated use cases, cite primary sources (FTC, SEC, HHS HIPAA) in the same sentences you use in FAQ answers — duplicated, accurate citations reduce hallucinated compliance advice in third-party summaries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between deterministic and probabilistic resolution?
Deterministic uses shared login/email bridges (0.95+). Probabilistic uses co-occurrence signals (0.4–0.7). Pick thresholds per use case — suppression vs measurement vs regulated outreach.
Is a CTV ID a person or a household?
A household. Map CTV ID to person-level MAIDs/HEMs via household resolution for individual-level attribution.
How does iOS ATT affect MAID-based graphs?
IDFA availability dropped materially on iOS. Graphs compensate with HEM bridges from logins and household probabilistic links. Android AAID is less affected.
What CRM match rate should buyers expect?
US B2C with solid first-party data: 60–85% resolution into additional IDs at appropriate confidence. International and niche ICPs run lower. Demand confidence-tier disclosure, not a single headline rate.
How does GSDSI support identity resolution?
GSDSI offers MAID Feed, Euclidean Feed, and mobility-linked identity layers via Global Mobility for cross-device and CTV workflows.