Glossary of All Terms

An alphabetical listing containing brief definitions of most LiveRamp terms.

For fuller definitions of some terms, see the other articles in the "Understanding LiveRamp" section of this documentation site.

AbiliTec ID

The type of identifier tied to a record in our AbiliTec offline identity graph.

active

If a segment is listed as "active" in the list of segments being distributed to a particular destination account, that means the segment is currently being distributed.

active record

A unique record that has at least one field being actively distributed to a destination.

Advertiser Direct

LiveRamp's program that allows brands and agencies to activate third-party data from the LiveRamp Data Marketplace on designated destination platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok.

Android Advertising ID (AAID)

The mobile device ID for Android devices.

Android device

A mobile device that uses Google's Android operating system. Each Android device has a unique Android Advertising ID (AAID).

Apple mobile data

Mobile device IDs accessible in-app on Apple devices that use the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA (iOS).

audience

In the context of LiveRamp Connect, a way to group your consumers within LiveRamp.

audience key

A field in your files that acts as a unique ID for all of the records in a given LiveRamp audience.

audience member

A member of a given audience that corresponds to a unique record in an audience.

auto add

Enabling "auto add" for a particular destination account allows you to have all the segments you upload to a particular audience added to the distribution for that destination account. Contact your LiveRamp representative if you wish to enable auto-add.

basket-level data

A type of conversion data that is calculated on a “per basket” (or “per transaction”) basis. So fields like “transaction amount” would reflect the transaction amount for the entire transaction, rather than the transaction amount for a specific item within a “basket” (as is done with “item-level data”).

binary field

A field with only two values that is used to indicate whether a particular audience member is a member of a certain segment.

client-side destination

A platform that receives data in real-time as users are observed on the LiveRamp match and syncing network, as opposed to a server-side destination, which receives data asynchronously.

column-based file

A type of file where every row has the same number of fields and the field names are contained in a header row, as opposed to a key/value file.

cookie

A packet of data sent by an Internet server to a browser, which is returned by the browser each time it subsequently accesses the same server and used to identify the user or track their access to the server.

cookie reach

The estimate of the number of cookie IDs that will be matched as part of a distribution to a destination.

custom IDs (CIDs)

Identifiers that are assigned to users by a specific platform, such as Google or Facebook.

custom segment

A segment that a data seller has created with a specific campaign in mind (as opposed to a standard segment).

data services

Data services include customization, reach expansion, quality testing, and more.

data type

The type of data, based on who collected the data, such as first-party data that your company has collected themselves, or second-party data that your company received from a partner company.

delimiter

A character (such as a comma or pipe) that acts as a separator between two values in a data file.

derived identifier

The identifier (such as a derived RampID) created for a given PII touchpoint (such as an email address or phone number) when there is no maintained record in the AbiliTec Identity Graph.

derived segment

A segment built with the Segment Creator in Connect by applying rules to previously uploaded segments within a given audience.

destination

A LiveRamp partner that can receive data from LiveRamp, which is usually a media platform where you buy advertising.

destination account

A set of configurations that allow you to distribute data to a particular seat at a destination.

destination matches

The expected number of matched identifiers (mobile device IDs, cookies, or custom IDs, depending on the match type selected) at the destination.

deterministic matching

Deterministic matching relies on directly observed data (e.g., device to PII linkages) to tie devices to individuals or household groups.

device ID

The ID for a particular device, such as a computer, tablet, or cell phone. Device IDs include cookie IDs, mobile device IDs, and IP addresses.

device identifiers

A category of identifiers where the identifiers are based on digital devices (for example, cookie IDs or mobile device IDs).

device reach estimate

The estimate of the number of devices that have been delivered as part of a distribution to a destination. Also referred to as "estimated reach".

direct integration

A type of destination integration where distributions to a particular platform are delivered directly to the customer’s account on that platform. Almost all of LiveRamp’s platform integrations are direct integrations, with the exception of platforms such as Facebook, where customers can choose between a direct integration and a managed integration.

distinct value

A value or set of values that are distinct from all other values for a given field in a data file.

Enhanced Matching

A type of first-party data distribution integration where LiveRamp takes the input PII and looks for additional email addresses belonging to the same individual to send (after hashing) that the destination platform might be able to match on.

enumerated field

A field in a given file that has 250 or fewer distinct values, which can then be separated out and managed individually in the UI.

estimated reach

The estimated device or custom ID reach for a particular field or segment. Represent the projected number of devices or custom IDs LiveRamp estimates can be targeted, either across all platforms or at a specific platform.

field

A set of segment data that holds a specific category of values, such as "Car_Owned."

field name

The name of a particular field, and a trait category that describes a group of users (i.e., "Gender").

file-wide field

A way to send data where all the records in the file are members of one particular segment. The name of the file indicates the segment name for the file-wide field.

fill rate

When referring to a particular field in a data file, the percentage of records that have an entry or value for that field (a field with a 100% fill rate would have a value for that field in every row of the data file). Within a given audience, the identifier field chosen to be used as the audience key for that audience should have a high fill rate.

first-party data

Data that a company has collected themselves, as opposed to second-party data or third-party data.

fixed-width file

Fixed width text files are special cases of text files, which are not supported by LiveRamp, where the format is specified by column widths, pad character, and left/right alignment. Column widths are measured in units of characters. For example, if you have data in a text file where the first column always has exactly 10 characters, and the second column has exactly 5, the third has exactly 12 (and so on), this would be categorized as a fixed-width text file.

hashing

A cryptographic operation that is performed on variable-length data strings, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to convert them from plaintext to bit strings of a fixed length through the use of a specific algorithm. Hashing of a particular data string with a particular algorithm always produces the same result. Hashing is designed to be a one-way function so that it is very difficult to reverse. Common hashing algorithms include MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256.

header

A field name entry for a particular column of data in a column-based file.

header row

The first row of a column-based file, where the entries of that row indicate the field name for each column.

household precision level

A matching precision level where a record that is onboarded is matched to all records in the Identity Graph that share the same household and show a persistent relationship.

identifier

Data that are used to identify something, such as a person, mobile device, computer browser, or household.

identifier data

Data LiveRamp uses to match your records to other identifiers in our Identity Graph, such as name and postal address, email address, RampIDs, cookie IDs, or mobile device IDs.

Identifier For Advertising (IDFA)

The mobile device ID for Apple/iOS devices.

identities

For a segment in Customer Profiles, the number of maintained RampIDs we were able to match to the records in that segment.

Identity Envelope

Secure, encrypted LiveRamp identity envelopes that contain a RampID. Envelopes can only be decrypted by vendors having a Sidecar application running on their server.

individual precision level

A matching precision level where a record that is onboarded is matched only to records in the LiveRamp Identity Graph that correspond to that individual.

ingestion

The process through which customer files are uploaded and properly formatted in LiveRamp's system.

initial distribution

The date a particular Data Marketplace segment was first distributed to a destination.

iOS devices

Mobile devices that use Apple's iOS operating system. Each iOS device has a unique Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) ID.

iOS reach

The estimated number of iOS devices in a particular segment.

item-level data

A type of conversion data that is calculated on a “per item” ( or “per SKU”) basis. So fields like “transaction amount” for item-level data would reflect only the transaction amount for a specific item (SKU) within a “basket”, rather than the transaction amount for the entire transaction (as is done with “basket-level data”). Attribution programs that accept item-level data require that you break each transaction into multiple rows so that each item in the transaction has its own row. Also referred to as “SKU-level data”.

key

In a key-value file, the category for a particular value (for example, a key of "gender"). Similar to a header in a column-based file.

key-value file

A type of data file where each row contains key/value pairs in the form of "key=value" (for example, "gender=female").

known identifiers

Identifiers that have been derived from, and/or can be associated with, PII (and are therefore considered PII) and that have not been pseudonymized yet. In addition to PII-based identifiers (such as name and postal address or email address), known identifiers also include AbiliTec IDs, client customer IDs, and (in some cases) custom IDs and IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as "offline identifiers."

Last Upload Date

The upload date of the last file uploaded for a particular audience.

LiveRamp cookie

A cookie that LiveRamp sets on a browser.

LiveRamp Units (LRU)

For Activation workflows, a billing metric that measures the total number of unique records you have set up to distribute to each active destination in that month. For Measurement Enablement workflows, a billing metric that measures the number of unique records uploaded to a Measurement Enablement audience multiplied by the number of destinations those records were sent to. LiveRamp units are sometimes also referred to as “Activation units”.

lookalike-modeled audience

A modeled audience consisting of the consumers in a reference data set pool who share the characteristics of your seed audience.

lookalike modeling (LAL modeling)

The process of creating a model of your current customer data to enable the targeting of people with similar behavior, demographics, or preferences.

maintained identifier

In the context of LiveRamp, a maintained identifier, such as a maintained RampID or a maintained AbiliTec ID, represents a person that LiveRamp can fully recognize. A maintained identifier is the identifier associated with a given record when there is a maintained record in the AbiliTec Identity Graph (our PII-based offline identity graph) for the input data provided.

managed integration

A type of destination integration where first-party data distributions are delivered to LiveRamp’s account, and then shared by LiveRamp to the customer’s account (as opposed to a “direct integration”).

match

Indicates that LiveRamp is able to match a particular record to an individual at a particular destination.

matched reach

The number of records and devices that have been matched at a distribution destination for your distributed fields and segments. Also referred to as "actual reach".

match partner

A partner that LiveRamp receives match data from.

match rate

The percentage of total unique, identifiable records that we can match to one or more online devices or browsers at a specified destination.

Measurement Enablement workflow (Measurement Enablement)

A LiveRamp workflow where we replace the input identifiers (such as PII, cookies, mobile device IDs, CIDs, etc.) with their associated RampIDs and return the file to the specified locations.

mobile device IDs (MUID, MAID)

Unique identifiers that are given to mobile devices. This category of IDs is sometimes referred to as Mobile User IDs (MUID) or Mobile Advertising IDs (MAID).

neighborhood precision level

A matching precision level where a record that is onboarded is matched to all records in the LiveRamp Identity Graph that share the same ZIP+4.

numeric field

A type of data field that only contains numeric values.

OAuth

OAuth (Open Authorization) is an open standard for token-based authentication and authorization.

offline identifiers

Usually refers to PII identifiers such as name and postal, email address, and hashed email address. These identifiers are also referred to as "known identifiers."

onboarding

Activation is the process of connecting your customer data to digital marketing applications and media platforms. Within LiveRamp, the typical onboarding workflow involves uploading customer data, such as PII identifiers and segment data, which is then connected to device identifiers and activated at the desired destinations.

online identifiers

Usually refers to device identifiers such as cookies and mobile device IDs. These identifiers are also referred to as "pseudonymous identifiers."

overlap stats

Stats, such as estimated percentage overlap and estimated segment size, can only be displayed for those segments in Customer Profiles that have been enabled for overlap stats. This involves LiveRamp matching the records in the segment to all maintained RampIDs in advance. To display the estimated segment size and estimated overlap percentage, we sample the maintained RampIDs in the segments.

partner cookie

A cookie that a LiveRamp partner sets on a browser.

Passthrough Activation

A type of first-party data distribution integration where LiveRamp takes the input PII and passes through hashed PII in a privacy-safe and compliant manner to the destination platform with no leveraging of the LiveRamp Identity Graph.

personably-identifiable information (PII)

Data (such as name and postal, phone number, or email address) which, on its own or when combined with some other data, can be used to identify an individual. For EU and UK customers, this type of identifier data is called “directly identifiable personal data”.

PII

Personally identifiable information (such as name and postal, phone number, or email address) which, on its own or when combined with some other data, can be used to identify an individual.

PII identifiers

A category of identifiers where the identifiers consist of PII (personally identifiable information). PII identifiers are sometimes also referred to as "offline identifiers."

placeholder identifier

In the context of LiveRamp, a placeholder cookie RampID or placeholder mobile RampID is the identifier provided for a cookie or mobile device ID that LiveRamp has not identified.

plaintext

Data that has not been encrypted or hashed.

precision

In lookalike modeling, indicates how good the lookalike segment is at only including consumers similar to the seed segment members (determined by the number of true positives divided by the total number of predicted positives and false positives).

precision level

The audience precision level determines whether a record that is onboarded is matched to records in the LiveRamp Identity Graph on an individual level or a household level (for offline-based data) or on a device level or individual level (for online-based data).

probabilistic matching

A type of matching that relies on models to tie devices to individuals, households, or other groups. Associations between devices are not observed directly (unlike deterministic matching) but are inferred from mathematical models that evaluate the probability of one or more devices belonging to a given individual, household, or to another group (e.g., geography-based).

pseudonymous identifiers

Identifiers that can't be directly tied back to an individual.

RampID

LiveRamp's universal, pseudonymous identifier that is tied to devices in the LiveRamp Identity Graph.

raw field

A field in a given file that has over 250 distinct values, and so cannot be separated out and managed individually in the UI.

reach

In most instances, reach refers to the estimated number of devices or users that will be matched at a particular destination during onboarding. In lookalike modeling, reach refers to the percentage of the reference data set that will be reached with a given lookalike segment.

recall

In lookalike modeling, indicates how good the lookalike segment is at including all of the consumers in the reference data set that are similar to the seed segment members (determined by the number of true positives divided by the total number of true positives and false negatives).

recognition rate

The percentage of valid rows in a File-Based Resolution workflow file that were matched to a maintained RampID.

record

After all rows in a file have been deduplicated (usually by the use of a unique ID for each record, which we refer to as the audience key for that particular audience), the consolidated rows become "records" in LiveRamp's system. Because of this, the number of records in a given file is usually lower than the number of rows. Each record is tied to one individual, so each record is thought of as being unique (and records are sometimes referred to as "unique records"). Each record usually contains identifiers and fields.

record matches

The number of records in the segment that were matched to one or more devices at the destination (depending on the match type selected).

Records Under Management (RUM)

The total number of complete records in a particular audience, calculated as the number of unique audience keys with both identifier data and segment data across your active imports.

Record Sync

A type of LiveRamp destination integration that allows you to propagate user deletions downstream to supported destination platforms.

rectangular file

A column-based file where every row has the exact same number of delimiters and columns of data.

reference data set

In lookalike modeling, the population of consumers that the seed segment is modeled against.

reseller client

A client of a LiveRamp customer that resells LiveRamp products and services to their clients. Sometimes referred to as an "advertiser client."

second-party data

Data that a company has obtained from a partner, as opposed to first-party data or third-party data.

secure file transfer protocol (SFTP)

A network protocol that is used for secure file transfer.

segment

A group of your records that are defined by a specific attribute (a field/value pairing, such as "Gender=female"). For example, a field for "Gender" might contain segments for "Gender=Female" and for "Gender=Male."

segment data

Data you use to group your records based on certain attributes (such as “Gender=Female” or “Income=25,000-49,999”) so you can distribute those records to one of LiveRamp’s partners, typically for targeting, measurement, or personalization.

segment metadata file (Data Marketplace)

For the Data Marketplace, a comma-separated value spreadsheet file that you download via Connect, update, and then upload back to Connect to provide information on Data Marketplace segments.

server-side destination

A platform that receives data asynchronously, as opposed to a client-side destination that receives data in real-time as users are observed on the LiveRamp match and syncing network.

signal data

A raw data feed that does not come prepackaged as segments, such as transaction data or location data. These data feeds help you gain greater audience intelligence by understanding behavior patterns over time.

standard segment

A segment that a data seller has created without a specific campaign in mind (as opposed to a custom segment), and which they make available to all data buyers in LiveRamp's Data Marketplace or another platform's UI.

string field

A text-based field whose entries can contain letters, numbers, and special characters.

third-party data

Data that a company has purchased from a third party, as opposed to first-party data or second-party data.

Top Destinations

On your My Dashboard page in Connect, your top destinations for the selected audience in terms of unique records matched to any device at those destinations.

touchpoints

As a metric for a segment in Customer Profiles, the number of derived RampIDs we created for the records in that segment. Each derived RampID represents a PII touchpoint (such as a phone number or email address) that we have not yet tied to a maintained RampID.

unique records

The number of records in a given audience that are tied to unique audience members (after deduplication). In almost all cases, when we say "record" we mean a unique record.

uplift ratio

In lookalike modeling, shows how much more likely it is that a lookalike segment contains consumers who match the profile of the consumers in the seed segment compared to random targeting.

value

Within a column of segment data in a data file, the entry for a given record that indicates a trait or attribute value, such as "BMW" in a field named "Car_Owned." A group of users with a specific field/value pairing creates a segment.