What is an identity graph
An identity graph consists of three elements:- Nodes are individual identifiers: a hashed email, a mobile advertising ID (MAID), a cookie, a phone number, a postal address
- Edges are linkages between identifiers, representing evidence that two identifiers belong to the same person or household
- Connected components are clusters of nodes where every identifier is reachable from every other through some path of edges—each component represents a resolved identity
Why graph quality matters
Graph quality is a balance between two failure modes:| Problem | Cause | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Under-connected | Too few or too conservative linkages | Fragmented user profiles, duplicated outreach, inflated audience counts |
| Over-connected | Too many or too liberal linkages | Merged distinct individuals, corrupted targeting, wasted spend on wrong audiences |
How the graph grows
Identity graphs typically build in layers:- First-party data as foundation. Login events, CRM records, and transaction data create high-confidence, deterministic linkages. A customer who logs into your app with their email on their iPhone creates a direct edge between that hashed email and that device’s IDFA.
- Third-party data adding edges. External identity providers contribute additional linkages that your first-party data cannot observe. A provider might link your customer’s email to a second device ID or a postal address that you have never seen.
- Deterministic vs. probabilistic linkages. Deterministic linkages come from direct observation (same user logged in on two devices). Probabilistic linkages are inferred from signals like shared IP addresses, co-location patterns, or behavioral similarity. Deterministic linkages are more reliable but harder to scale; probabilistic linkages offer broader reach but carry higher false-match risk.
Two approaches to using third-party identity data
When organizations purchase third-party identity data, the data serves one of two distinct purposes:| Graph enrichment | Addressability expansion | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary benefit | Improved identity resolution | Improved media activation reach |
| Effect on graph structure | Adds or strengthens edges between nodes | Appends identifiers to existing nodes |
| Impact on segmentation | Can change segment composition | Does not change segment composition |
| Impact on match rates | Indirect (better resolution enables better matching) | Direct (more identifiers per record increases match rates) |
| Risk profile | Higher (bad linkages corrupt graph structure) | Lower (bad appends reduce match rates but don’t corrupt structure) |
Graph Enrichment
Strengthen your identity graph’s structure with third-party linkage data
Addressability Expansion
Improve downstream activation reach by appending additional identifiers
Evaluating Identity Data Providers
A structured framework for choosing and measuring identity data providers
Identity graphs in Narrative
Narrative’s platform connects to identity graph concepts in several ways:Graph Studio
Graph Studio is the platform’s visual identity graph builder. It provides a guided workflow for defining edges between your data sources and running connected components algorithms to resolve identities. You can build graphs from first-party data alone, or combine first-party and third-party sources for stronger resolution. See the building an identity graph guide to get started.Rosetta Stone and unique identifiers
Rosetta Stone’sunique_identifier attribute provides a standardized way to match identifiers across suppliers. When you join on unique_identifier.value and unique_identifier.type, Narrative handles format normalization—consistent MAID casing, standardized email hashing—so that identifiers from different sources match correctly.
Cross-supplier identity resolution
Different data suppliers contribute different identity linkages. Narrative enables you to evaluate and combine these linkages through NQL queries, comparing coverage, overlap, and incremental contribution across providers before committing to a purchase.Narrative ID
Narrative ID provides a privacy-preserving mechanism for cross-partner matching. It enables identity resolution across organizations without exposing raw identifiers, maintaining graph connectivity while protecting PII.Related content
ID Mapping
How individual identifier linkages work
Identifier Types
Categories of identifiers used in data collaboration
Data Onboarding
Translating offline data for digital activation
Data Activation
Delivering resolved audiences to destination platforms