Adobe Vendor ID

Adobe Vendor ID is a separate standalone toolkit which can be used to streamline the content authorization and device activation process for eBooks, improving the eReading experience for your users.

Content authorization

Without Vendor ID, the typical content authorization process for eBooks looks something like this:

eBook (with Adobe DRM) is opened on a device or app.
User is prompted to authorize or "activate" the device/app by specifying their Adobe ID (username/password):
- If user has an Adobe ID, they enter their username/password.
- If they do not have an Adobe ID, user is directed to exit the app, launch a browser and create an Adobe account at adobe.com. Once the Adobe account is created, user can go back to device/app and attempt to authorize the content again.
User can now open the eBook.

In this workflow, note that:

The reading experience is interrupted by the requirement to launch a browser and create a user account at adobe.com (for those users who don't already have one).
Users are generally prompted for their "Adobe ID" by name. That is, the fact that the vendor is using Adobe technology is not hidden from the user.

Some vendors may wish to streamline the content authorization process and/or remove the dependency of their app/device on Adobe ID. For those vendors, Adobe Vendor ID can work as a potential solution.

Content authorization with Adobe Vendor ID

Adobe Vendor ID allows vendors to streamline the content authorization process by providing vendors with a unique ID which can be used to authorize content on behalf of its users. Vendors gain more control over the authorization process; and can effectively eliminate the dependency on Adobe ID for their users.

In a Vendor ID -enabled workflow, content authorization can be as simple as this:

eBook (with Adobe DRM) is opened on a device or app.
Content is automatically authorized by the vendor's device/app, using their Vendor ID and the user's specific account information with that vendor.
User can now open the eBook.

Why implement Adobe Vendor ID?

Our customers implement Adobe Vendor ID for a number of reasons, including:

Streamline user experience - With Vendor ID you no longer have to interrupt new users' reading experience, and ask them to stop; launch a browser; create an Adobe ID; and then return and authorize the content.
Remove dependency on Adobe ID - Some customers feel the perception of a dependency of an account created at adobe.com, an "external site", confuses their users.
Language support - The Adobe website interface to create Adobe IDs may not support customers' native language (Icelandic, Gujarati, etc.). Eliminating the Adobe ID creation step enables customers to keep their users in their own (language) environment.
Tie the user to your eBookstore - Some customers have implemented Vendor ID as a means to further tie their users to their bookstore and brand.

Joining Adobe Vendor IDs and Adobe IDs

Adobe Vendor ID supports a joining mechanism whereby Adobe ID-based user accounts can be "joined" with Vendor ID -based ones. Depending on your business requirements, you may wish to implement joining. The Vendor ID APIs include mechanisms for joining multiple Vendor IDs and Adobe IDs together.

If you wish you enable your users to read other Adobe DRM-based content on your device/app, you can enable this via account joining; if instead you wish to restrict content to only your content, you can skip the joining process. It's your choice.

Implementing Adobe Vendor ID

Implementing Adobe Vendor ID consists of two steps:

First, we will work with Adobe to provision your Vendor ID
Then, you'll need to update your content authorization (aka "activation") process with new APIs to leverage your new Adobe Vendor ID capabilities
Optionally, you can add the capability to join Vendor IDs and Adobe IDs