BusinessWire
LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP) and Unity (NYSE: U) announced an expanded collaboration that places LiveRamp’s interoperable identifier, RampID, directly into Unity’s mobile advertising marketplace. The move gives advertisers a unified way to target gamers and mobile app users with the same identity signals they already use for other digital channels.
Why identity matters in mobile gaming
Identity resolution has become a cornerstone of modern advertising. As third‑party cookies fade, brands rely on persistent, privacy‑compliant identifiers to stitch together consumer behavior across devices and platforms. LiveRamp’s RampID—described as a “durable, interoperable identifier”—has been adopted by several demand‑side platforms (DSPs) and data‑management solutions, but its presence in the mobile gaming sphere has been limited.
Unity’s Exchange, the company’s programmatic marketplace for in‑game inventory, reaches 2.9 billion monthly active devices worldwide and 256 million in the United States. By embedding RampID into that supply, marketers can finally apply a single identity layer to the gaming experience, aligning it with display, video, and social campaigns.
The mechanics of the partnership
The integration works by making RampID an available targeting dimension inside Unity Exchange. Advertisers, agencies, and platforms that already use RampID for audience segmentation can now bid on Unity’s mobile inventory using the same identifier. This eliminates the need to fall back on device‑level IDs or probabilistic matches, which have traditionally suffered from fragmentation and reduced accuracy in the gaming context.
LiveRamp’s technology translates first‑party data—such as email hashes or loyalty IDs—into RampID values that can be matched against Unity’s user base. Once matched, the identifier can drive activation across Unity’s ad formats, from rewarded videos to interstitials, while preserving the privacy safeguards built into the RampID framework.
Statements from the companies
“Marketers want to be able to activate across every channel and reach their target customers quickly and seamlessly, and the partnership between LiveRamp and Unity extends this even further into gaming, at scale,” said Matthew Hogg, Senior Vice President of Connectivity & Ecosystem at LiveRamp. “Unity is tapping RampID to unlock a critical capability for marketers to extend identity and seamlessly drive omnichannel activation, now including gaming.”
Chris Feo, Senior Vice President of Programmatic at Unity, added, “Identity strategies only create value when they can be applied in the environments where people actually spend time on mobile. Making RampID available across Unity Exchange gives brands, agencies, and platforms a seamless way to extend addressable planning into mobile gaming as part of how they already approach identity across digital media.”
Industry context: the push toward unified identity
The broader ad tech industry has been wrestling with the demise of third‑party cookies since Google’s 2024 timeline. Companies are racing to build or adopt alternatives that can survive stricter privacy regulations while still delivering measurable ROI. LiveRamp’s RampID competes with solutions like The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 and Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals, each vying for the role of the “new cookie.”
Unity, meanwhile, has been expanding its monetization tools beyond traditional game development. The company’s acquisition of ironSource in 2022 and subsequent launch of Unity Gaming Services signaled a strategic pivot toward becoming a full‑stack platform for game publishers and advertisers alike. By opening its Exchange to RampID, Unity reinforces its position as a hub where data‑driven marketing can intersect with immersive experiences.
Potential impact on advertisers
For agencies managing multi‑channel campaigns, the ability to use a single identifier across display, video, and now gaming simplifies audience building and measurement. A retailer that has already mapped its loyalty members to RampID can now reach those same shoppers while they play mobile titles, delivering offers that feel less intrusive because they are contextually relevant.
Performance metrics are expected to improve as well. Identity‑based targeting typically yields higher click‑through rates (CTR) and conversion rates compared to blind device‑ID targeting, especially in environments where users are highly engaged, such as games. While LiveRamp has not disclosed projected lift figures, the partnership’s emphasis on “better marketing returns” suggests that early pilots have shown promising uplift.
Challenges and considerations
Despite the benefits, the integration raises a few practical questions:
- Privacy compliance: RampID is built to be privacy‑first, but the gaming sector often involves younger audiences. Advertisers will need to ensure that any data usage complies with COPPA and similar regulations where applicable.
- Ad fraud: Gaming inventory has historically been a target for fraudulent impressions. Unity’s existing verification stack will need to work in concert with RampID to maintain brand safety.
- Ad fatigue: Over‑targeting gamers with retail offers could backfire if not balanced with in‑game relevance. Creative strategies will be crucial to avoid disrupting the player experience.
Competitive landscape
Unity’s move puts it in direct conversation with other gaming ad platforms such as Google’s AdMob and Amazon’s GameAds, both of which are also exploring identity solutions. However, Unity’s advantage lies in its deep integration with the engine that powers a majority of mobile games, offering a level of granularity that pure ad‑network solutions may lack.
On the identity side, LiveRamp’s RampID competes with The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0, which has seen adoption across several DSPs and publishers. The key differentiator for RampID is its “durable” nature—designed to persist across device changes and platform migrations—potentially offering more stability for long‑term campaigns.
Outlook for the market
If the partnership delivers on its promise of “seamless omnichannel activation,” it could accelerate the shift of advertising dollars into the gaming vertical, which already accounts for a growing share of digital spend. According to eMarketer, gaming ad revenue in the United States is projected to exceed $10 billion in 2026, with mobile comprising the bulk of that figure. An identity layer that bridges gaming with other channels may help marketers justify larger portions of their budgets for in‑game placements.
Analysts will be watching early campaign results for indications of lift, cost‑per‑thousand‑impressions (CPM) trends, and user sentiment. Success could encourage other identity providers to seek similar integrations, further blurring the lines between traditional and immersive media.
How to get involved
Companies interested in testing RampID on Unity Exchange are directed to contact LiveRamp at ATS@liveramp.com. The announcement did not specify a rollout timeline, but given the scale of Unity’s device base, industry observers anticipate a phased launch over the coming months.
Get in touch with our Adtech experts
