The term “third-party data” or third-party data is used to define all data and information that comes from third-party, i.e., external, sources to the company itself and therefore does not result from direct interaction with users.
This is data that is usually collected from multiple sources and sources on the Web, segmented and made available to companies primarily for advertising purposes (think, for example, of the data made available by Google or Facebook for targeting within their platforms).
Third-party data combine inferred data, observed data, and data provided directly by users.
Let’s take a closer look at them:
- inferred data: these are often provided by data providers and may also include socioeconomic information;
- observed data: this is data concerning the use of devices that involve some interactive functions being tracked;
- data provided by users: this is demographic information or related to social media activities.
Third-party data complete the data categorisation model that includes within first-party data and second-party data.
Undoubtedly much more corpulent than the two types shown above, third-party data are often considered extremely volatile in that they can quickly become obsolete. Think, for example, how quickly consumer preferences, budgets available for purchase, income, etc…
