Adobe adds new features to its data management platform

Adobe is fine-tuning its data management platform (DMP) Audience Manager on Monday with two new features.

Trait Exclusion. One is the ability to subtract a common trait when creating a lookalike user model.

Lookalike models are often developed from the attributes of a group of users a brand wants to find more of. A model of the common attributes of the best customers, according to this thinking, can help find other users with similar attributes, who are more likely to become customers of this particular product or service.

One problem, Adobe says, is that when a brand creates a model from attribute data — either the brand’s own data or third-party data from a provider — there might be attributes that could bias the model in the wrong direction.

For instance, the attributes creating the model might include visits to the brand’s site or other specific sites, when those site visits aren’t useful for finding lookalike users.

The new Trait Exclusion capability in Audience Manager’s Algorithmic Models lets marketers remove selected traits, and it employs Adobe’s Sensei machine learning to help make the subtraction. In addition to removing traits that don’t add value, like site visits, Adobe said the new feature helps marketers focus on influential traits. When the brand has to comply with specific privacy regulations, the model can exclude certain demographic attributes.

Impressions by segment, Data Explorer availability. The other new feature is the ability to automatically report on ad impressions by user segment. Adobe said this allows marketers to better attribute costs to different data sources for a given user segment.

Additionally, Adobe is now making Data Explorer generally available. Announced as a beta in September, Data Explorer is a self-service suite inside Audience Manager for utilizing raw data. As an example use case, Adobe noted that a suddenly viral online article or an unexpectedly popular product can now be added as traits in real time by the marketer.

Why you should care. Managing attributes and user segments are key requirements for targeted marketing. Adobe’s new features can help marketers fine-tune the management of their data assets by removing undesirables, tracking costs or adding unexpected user data.

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.