# How zero-party data powers your social experience and media revenue

Genuin personalizes social experiences from zero-party data and brand context, and monetizes them by passing content context, not personal identifiers, to advertisers.

Zero-party data is information people intentionally and willingly share with your brand. Genuin combines it with contextual signals generated inside your own web and app experiences, and builds personalization, discovery, and monetization on both. It doesn't rely on hidden tracking, shadow profiles, or external identity graphs.

For the definition and how it compares with first-party and third-party data, see [Zero-party data for brands](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/what-is-zero-party-data-for-brands). This page explains how Genuin applies it. For where data rules sit among Genuin's products, see [Control: what it does and where to start](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/control-what-it-does-and-where-to-start).

People share zero-party data with clear awareness, a clear purpose, and clear value to them. It includes preferences and interests, intent signals, feedback and participation choices, and community actions and engagement.

Unlike first-party data (observed behavior) or third-party data (purchased or inferred), zero-party data is explicit or permission-based. It's transparent to the user, and the brand owns and controls it.

## Signals Genuin collects

Genuin captures zero-party data through explicit user actions and permissions inside your web and app experiences.

### Participation signals

People generate these signals knowingly when they take part, not through passive tracking:

- Community and group joins
- Videos viewed, sparked (liked), commented on, and reposted
- Searches
- Content shared or posted
- Clicks on video linkouts

Genuin also collects device and client data:

- **Device information**: IDFA (`device_id`), SHA, UUID, and IP address.
- **Client data**: single sign-on (SSO) and login credentials.

These signals show what people care about, not who they are across the internet. To report on device data, see [Analyze device data in reports](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-do-i-access-device-information-for-analytics-and-reporting).

### Opt-in permissions

When your experience needs a sensitive input, Genuin supports explicit consent, and your brand always initiates the request:

- Camera and microphone access
- Photo gallery uploads
- Location (latitude and longitude)
- Contact details
- Speech recognition

Each permission is requested transparently, controlled by you, and revocable by the user. For how the SDK requests them, see [Request camera, microphone, and photo library permissions](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/request-camera-microphone-and-photo-library-permissions).

### Brand-defined context

Brand context drives personalization as much as user data does. You define:

- Categories, topics, and personas
- Communities and groups
- Content guidelines and governance rules
- Where embeds appear across your site and app journeys

This context shapes where and how content and ads appear, with no individual-level targeting. Learn how to [set up brand categories and topics](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/how-do-i-set-up-brand-categories-and-topics) and [establish your brand persona](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/how-do-i-establish-and-integrate-the-brand-persona).

## SDKs connect every platform

The Genuin Experiences SDKs run on web, iOS, Android, React, and Flutter. They let you:

- Keep identity and the social experience consistent across platforms
- Collect zero-party signals at every touchpoint
- Keep all data inside your owned ecosystem

Genuin doesn't resell or repurpose user data, and all raw engagement data flows back to you. To receive it, see [Receive engagement events in your own analytics](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/receive-engagement-events-in-your-own-analytics) and [Receive zero-party data in BigQuery](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/connect-bigquery-to-the-brand-control-center-to-receive-zero-party-data).

## Advertising by context, not identity

If you don't share user data with Genuin or advertisers, targeting works from context instead of identity. Genuin offers advertisers two privacy-safe access models, and neither exposes individual user data.

### Community-level sponsorship

Advertisers take part inside relevant communities and groups, not against individual profiles. They appear in relevant communities, topic-aligned groups, and sponsored feeds or sections.

For example, a fitness brand sponsors wellness communities, and an auto insurer sponsors ownership or maintenance groups. Targeting comes from community themes, content context, and engagement signals. Learn how to [manage community sponsorships](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-will-a-brand-manage-community-sponsorships-to-generate-revenue-and-add-more-value-to-members).

### Contextual programmatic advertising

For programmatic ads, Genuin passes contextual metadata, not personal identifiers, to ad exchanges through IAB-standard macros. The signals include:

- Content category and keywords
- Community and group themes
- Language, genre, and production quality
- Content length and format
- Brand or publisher domain

DSPs and SSPs use these signals to serve ads that fit what's happening, not who the user is, without tracking. All macros are configurable and follow IAB standards.

| IAB field | Description | Genuin value | Value type |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Content Album | Album to which the content belongs | group_name | string |
| Content Keywords | Comma-separated list of keywords describing the content | search_query | string |
| Content Production quality | Production quality based on IAB standards | 0 - Unknown; 1 - Professionally Produced; 3 - User Generated (UGC) | integer |
| Content Episode | Episode number | video_name | integer |
| Content Livestream | 0 = not live, 1 = content is live | video_stream_type | integer |
| Content Context | Type of content | 1 - Video (a video file or stream, such as Internet TV broadcasts) | integer |
| Content URL | URL of the content | video_url | string |
| Content Kwarray | Array of keywords | video_keywords | string array |
| Content Media Rating | Media rating per IQG guidelines | 1 - All Audiences; 2 - Everyone Over Age 12; 3 - Mature Audiences | integer |
| Content Artist | Artist credited with the content | user_name | string |
| Content Producer Domain | Highest-level domain of the content producer | White-label domain, for example iheartmedia.begenuin.com | string |
| Content Genre | Genre that best describes the content | video_description | string |
| Content Series | Content series | group_name | string |
| Content Title | Content title | video_title | string |
| Content Producer Category | Array of IAB content categories that describe the content producer | community_category | string |
| Content Language | Content language using ISO-639-1-alpha-2 | video_lng | string |
| Content Producer Name | Content producer or originator name | community_name | string |
| Content Season | Content season | group_name | string |
| Content Lang | Content language using IETF BCP 47 | video_lng | string |
| Content Embeddable | Whether the content is embeddable | 1 - For embed; 0 - white label or SDK | integer |
| Content Channel Name | Channel the content is on | brand_name | string |
| Content Length | Length of the content in seconds | video_length | integer |

For the standard macros on offsite tags, including consent strings, see [Macro and Consent Passthrough](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/offsite/macro-and-consent-passthrough).

## Feed ranking without profiling

Genuin ranks feed content on three transparent factors:

1. Recency: fresh content surfaces first.
2. Interest alignment: based on community participation.
3. Popularity: collective engagement, not individual trails.

That keeps feeds relevant without behavioral surveillance. For how contextual embeds and placements pick their videos, see [How contextual feeds choose videos](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/how-do-i-configure-and-display-contextual-feeds-as-onsite-embeds).

## What stays with you

- You don't share historical or fresh user-level data with advertisers.
- Genuin doesn't build cross-platform identity graphs.
- All engagement insights stay brand-owned.

This closes the loop: you keep data ownership, people keep trusting you, and advertisers get relevance from context. Anchoring monetization to zero-party data and context lets you grow engagement and time spent on your O&O, and monetize it with less dependence on walled gardens.

For how Genuin handles consent, see [privacy and consent with zero-party data](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-does-genuin-ensure-privacy-and-consent-with-zero-party-data).

## See also

- [Zero-party data for brands](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/what-is-zero-party-data-for-brands)
- [How privacy and consent work with zero-party data](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-does-genuin-ensure-privacy-and-consent-with-zero-party-data)
- [Macro and Consent Passthrough](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/offsite/macro-and-consent-passthrough)
- [Set up a community sponsorship](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/how-will-a-brand-manage-community-sponsorships-to-generate-revenue-and-add-more-value-to-members)
- [Receive zero-party data in BigQuery](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/api/connect-bigquery-to-the-brand-control-center-to-receive-zero-party-data)