Identity Service linking logic

Last update: 2025-01-27
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A link between two identities are established when the identity namespace and the identity values match.

There are two types of identities that get linked:

  • Profile records: These identities usually come from CRM systems.
  • Experience Events: These identities usually come from WebSDK implementation or the Adobe Analytics source.

An identity represents a real-world entity. If there is a link established between two identities, this means that the two identities are associated to one another. The following are some examples that illustrate this concept:

Action Links established Meaning
An end user logs in using a computer. CRMID and ECID are linked together. A person (CRMID) owns a device with a browser (ECID).
An end user browses anonymously using an iPhone . IDFA is linked with ECID. The Apple hardware device (IDFA), such as an iPhone, is associated with the browser (ECID).
An end user logs in using Google Chrome, and then Firefox. CRMID is linked with two different ECIDs. A person (CRMID) is associated to 2 web browsers (Note: Each browser will have its own ECID).
A data engineer ingests a CRM record that includes two fields marked as an identity: CRMID and Email. CRMID and Email are linked. A person (CRMID) is associated to the email address.

Understanding the Identity Service linking logic

An identity consists of an identity namespace and an identity value.

  • An identity namespace is the context of a given identity value to. Common examples of identity namespaces include CRMID, Email, and Phone.
  • An identity value is the string that represents a real-world entity. For example: “julien@acme.com” can be an identity value for an Email namespace and 555-555-1234 can be a corresponding identity value for a Phone namespace.
TIP

The identity namespace is important because without it, then the identity value loses its context and will not have enough information to successfully match identities.

See the following diagrams for a visual representation of how the Identity Service linking logic works:

Suppose that you have an existing identity graph with three linked identities:

  • PHONE:(555)-555-1234
  • EMAIL:julien@acme.com
  • CRMID:60013ABC

existing graph

A pair of identities are ingested into your graph and this pair contains:

  • CRMID:60013ABC
  • ECID:100066526

incoming data

Identity Service recognizes that CRMID:60013ABC already exists within your graph, and so only links the new ECID

updated graph

Customer scenario

You are a data engineer and you ingest the following CRM dataset (Profile record) to Experience Platform.

CRMID** Phone* Email* First name Last name
60013ABC 555-555-1234 julien@acme.com Julien Smith
31260XYZ 777-777-6890 evan@acme.com Evan Smith
NOTE
  • ** - Denotes field that is marked as primary identity.
  • * - Denotes field that is marked as secondary identity.

Identity Service does not distinguish between primary and secondary identity. As long as a field is marked as an identity, then it will be ingested to Identity Service.

You have also implemented WebSDK and ingested a WebSDK dataset (Experience Event) with the following data tables:

Timestamp Identities in the event* Event
t=1 ECID:38652 View home page
t=2 ECID:38652, CRMID:31260XYZ Search for shoes
t=3 ECID:44675 View home page
t=4 ECID:44675, CRMID: 31260XYZ View purchase history

The primary identity for each event will be determined based on how you configure data element types.

NOTE

  • If you select the CRMID as the primary, then authenticated events (events with identity map containing the CRMID and ECID) will have a primary identity of CRMID. For unauthenticated events (events with the identity map only containing ECID) will have a primary identity of ECID. Adobe recommends this option.

  • If you select the ECID as the primary, irrespective of the authentication state, the ECID becomes the primary identity.

In this example:

  • t=1, used a desktop computer (ECID:38652) and to view the home page browse anonymously.
  • t=2, used the same desktop computer, logged in (CRMID:31260XYZ) and then searched for shoes.
    • Once a user is logged in, the event sends both ECID and CRMID to Identity Service.
  • t=3, used a laptop computer (ECID:44675) and browsed anonymously.
  • t=4, used the same laptop computer, logged in (CRMID: 31260XYZ) and then viewed the purchase history.

At timestamp=0, you have two identity graphs for two different customers. Both of whom are each represented by three linked identities.

CRMID Email Phone
Customer one 60013ABC julien@acme.com 555-555-1234
Customer two 31260XYZ evan@acme.com 777-777-6890

timestamp-zero

At timestamp=1, a customer uses a laptop to visit your e-commerce website, view your home page, and browse anonymously. This anonymous browsing event is identified as ECID:38652. Since Identity Service only stores events with at least two identities, this information is not stored.

timestamp-one

At timestamp=2, a customer uses the same laptop to visit your e-commerce website. They log in with their username and password combination and they browse for shoes. Identity Service identifies the customer’s account when they log in because it corresponds to their CRMID: 31260XYZ. Additionally, Identity Service relates ECID:38562 to CRMID:31260XYZ since they are both using the same browser on the same device.

timestamp-two

At timestamp=3 a customer uses a tablet to visit your e-commerce website and browse anonymously. This anonymous browsing event is identified as ECID:44675. Since Identity Service only stores events with at least two identities, this information is not stored.

timestamp-three

At timestamp=4, a customer uses the same tablet, logs in to their account (CRMID:31260XYZ) and views their purchase history. This event links their CRMID:31260XYZ to the cookie identifier assigned to anonymous browsing activity, ECID:44675, and links ECID:44675 to customer two’s identity graph.

timestamp-four
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