LinkedIn·Tuesday, 25 August 2026·1d ago

The Open Web has done enough talking. Now it needs commitment. Every so often, an article captures what an industry has been circling…

Utiq

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The Open Web has done enough talking. Now it needs commitment. Every so often, an article captures what an industry has been circling around for months and says it with considerably more conviction. Klaus Janke has done exactly that. In “Why the Window of Opportunity for the ID Offensive Is Getting Smaller”, he makes a powerful case for why the adoption of deterministic identity across the Open Web has moved beyond a technology discussion. It is becoming an economic one. And ultimately, a societal one. Janke doesn't shy away from the challenges. Deterministic IDs aren't yet universally implemented. Activation can still involve complexity. Advertisers want greater reach, integrations need to become easier and the industry still has work to do. We agree. But his bigger argument is that waiting for perfection carries its own risk. The technical foundations are largely there. Deterministic IDs such as those provided by Utiq and NetID can enable advertisers to recognise real people across environments, manage frequency more accurately and execute campaigns across multiple sales houses. The next step is adoption. Because, as Janke asks: “How will advertising prices develop if Big Tech eventually occupies 80, 90 or 95 percent of the market? What negotiating power will advertisers still have then?” That's the bigger conversation. A strong Open Web creates choice and competition for advertisers. It creates sustainable value for publishers. And the revenues it generates help support the quality journalism that remains fundamental to a healthy democratic public sphere. This is why responsible identity infrastructure matters. Not as another piece of adtech. Not as an endless experiment. But as part of the infrastructure required to make the Open Web more addressable, measurable and economically competitive. And Janke's challenge to the industry is refreshingly clear: advertisers and agencies need to get involved now. More campaigns create more learning. More learning improves the infrastructure. Greater adoption creates the scale advertisers are asking for. There is a circularity here that the industry can only break by moving. As Janke concludes: “The sense of momentum that emerged across the industry last year must be used. It will not last much longer.” We couldn't agree more. Thank you Klaus and HORIZONT for writing and publishing this with such clarity and conviction, and for being willing to challenge every part of the ecosystem, including technology providers like us. The Open Web has the audiences. It has the premium content. Increasingly, it has the infrastructure. Now we need to use it. Marc Bresseel Will Harmer Julia Gloning Jana Moran Laurent Norridge Pascale Arguinarena Michail Piperakis Beatrice Lhopitallier Max Baum Catherine Murray Gunter Everink Kostas Chrysovitsiotis Arian S.