Ad-ID

Ad-ID is the advertising industry standard unique identifier for all commercial assets. It replaced the ISCI system in 2003. [ [https://www.ad-id.org/ Ad-ID] ] It is used to track advertising from the point of concept, through creation and on to distribution, and the media. It is mostly used in Television, Radio and OOH (Out-of-home advertising) but has been gaining traction in online and print.

Critical information about each ad and campaign is managed with Ad-ID. Details of the ad, what media the ad will be used in, clearance status, usage restrictions, related executions, and other vital information can be accessed by authorized users.

Origin

Ad-ID was developed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers, Inc., (ANA), Ad-ID uses the TV standard, ISCI commercial coding system as its foundation. The ISCI code was an 8 character alphanumeric code that was in use since 1970 and was not centrally managed. With only 8 characters the codes were running out, hence the creation of the 12 digit Ad-ID code.

Ad-ID codes are 12 digits in length, four alpha and eight alphanumeric characters. The first four alpha characters are company identification prefixes. All existing ISCI prefixes are grandfathered into the Ad-ID system. Ad-ID codes are computer generated through a secure, Web-accessible database, located at www.ad-id.org.

Technology

The Ad-ID system uses a web interface and a set of custom APIs to manage the system and integrate with customers systems. The system uses a unique algorithm to maximize the use of the 12 digit codes. [ [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/AdID_WindowsMedia.aspx Ad-ID Implementation in Windows Media Technologies] ] [ [http://www.vexcom.com/html/overflow.cfm The Ad-ID Algorith] ]

The Ad-ID system required the last 4 characters of a code to increment from the left to right, and to cycle through numbers and letters. Ad-Id codes are 12 digits, however, many legacy systems only accept 10 digits, this algorithm allowed for the creation of the maximum number of unique codes using only the first 10 digits, creating 1296 combinations instead of 99 before a duplicate is encountered within position 9 and 10 of the code. [ [http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002385102 MediaWeek Article] ]

The algorith was written by Wesley Warren of Vexcom, a development partner of Ad-ID.

Users

Who uses Ad-ID? Some of the largest companies in the world use Ad-Id everyday to maange and track their advertising assets. Companies such as Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Ford, BMW, Pepsi, HP

Updates

[ [https://www.ad-id.org/news/docs/Ad-ID-ISCI-release1.pdf Ad-ID Replaces ISCI - Press Release 11/07] ] In October 2007 ISCI was officially withdrawn from the marketplace and replaced by Ad-ID.

References