What is 3rd Party Data?
3rd Party Data is a type of data collected for marketing and advertising purposes. Unlike 1st Party Data, where the information is collected directly from the source, and second party data where businesses can buy 1st Party Data from other companies, 3rd Party Data is bought from data aggregators who are not the original owners of the data.
Data aggregators typically buy data from publishers in high volume, and sell them to all companies, marketers or advertisers interested in them. This means that the data isn’t unique and doesn’t have the ability of increasing competitive advantage, unlike 1st Party Data or 2nd Party Date where data is either directly collected from the source or directly bought from companies who collect their own data.
3rd Party Data is often collected from multiple sources and divided based on demographics and behaviors. It’s sold programmatically via a DSP.
While not as accurate as 1st Party Data and 2nd Party Data, 3rd Party Data can be used to improve the reach of 1st Party Data and increase its scale. Additionally, marketers and advertisers can reach new audiences and understand their behavior at a large scale, as well as narrow their focus and improve their targeting.
