A Household ID is a cross-device identifier that sticks with a household over time.
Once Screen6 has identified a cluster of User IDs that belong to the same household, such cluster will get assigned a Household ID. Over time, the User IDs within the cluster may change; new ones come in, others disappear. However, the Household ID for this cluster will remain the same.
The User IDs that get linked to a Household ID can come from a mix of any type: cookies, IDFA's, MAC addresses, Smart TV IDs, etc...
A Household ID is not an IP address
Households are often simply identified by an IP address. However, the IP that a certain household got assigned may change. Typically depending on the ISP provider this may be once a year or daily. Household IDs remain the same for a household even if the IP of that household changes.
Mixing Household IDs and Match IDs
A Screen6 device graph may contain both Household IDs as well as Match IDs. Match IDs, and its corresponding User IDs, may get linked to a Household ID. Also User IDs that have not been assigned to a Match ID may get linked to a Household ID. These IDs will mostly come from family shared devices such as TVs, Game consoles and Tablets.
Here's an example of a single household with two Match IDs and 5 User IDs, one of which has not been linked to a Match ID so the value is zero. For example, a shared device which cannot be attributed to a specific profile.
| Household ID | Match ID | User ID |
|---|---|---|
| 123 | ABC | ID1 |
| 123 | ABC | ID2 |
| 123 | DEF | ID3 |
| 123 | DEF | ID4 |
| 123 | 0 | ID5 |