Glossary/Privacy and identity/Addressability
What is addressability in advertising?
What addressability means, why it is falling as cookies disappear, how to measure it, and the steps publishers take to raise it.
Written by Samhub with the help of AI·Updated 13 Oct 2026·3 min readAddressability is the share of your audience you can recognize and target with ads. An addressable reader is one you can link to an ID and an audience, with consent.
Why addressability is falling
Browsers block or limit third-party cookies, consent is not always given, and readers move between devices. Each of these makes more of your traffic look anonymous to buyers.
How to measure it
Addressability = recognized visits ÷ all visits × 100
Example: 450,000 ÷ 1,500,000 × 100 = 30%
Illustrative numbers. Measure it every month.
16 pages for publishers, with a checklist for data, programmatic and direct sales.
How publishers raise addressability
Use first-party IDs
Recognize readers with your own first-party cookies and server-side IDs.
Grow logins
Registration walls and newsletters turn anonymous readers into known ones.
Raise consent
A clear banner and a reason to say yes.
Link visits
An ID graph connects devices and brands to one reader.
Addressability at Stampen Media after moving its reader data into one layer with Samhub.
Frequently asked questions
The part of your audience you can recognize and target, usually with consent and an ID.
No. Contextual targeting uses the page, not the reader, which is why it works for anonymous traffic.
Buyers pay more for impressions they can target. Low addressability means more inventory sold on price alone.
It depends on your setup. Moving to first-party IDs and one data layer often gives the biggest step.
Related terms
Data you collect directly from your own readers.
Readers who are signed in to your site or app.
A shared identifier that can replace third-party cookies.
Links one reader’s visits across devices and logins.
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