The IAB Tech Lab’s new initiative is expected to help publishers deal with the challenges of digital advertising as cookies become less common.
Consumers are avoiding cookies, which are used for targeted advertising, due to Google, Apple, and regulators’ efforts. Publishers are hoping to deal with the resulting scramble for alternatives by introducing seller-defined audiences.
The IAB Tech Lab has created a new solution, which enables advertisers to purchase 1,600 different kinds of contextual audiences from publishers. It’s expected to standardise audiences and simplify buying across publishers.
Demand-side platforms such as the Trade Desk handle advertiser purchases, and publishers can choose which adtech companies to share their data with.
Jeff Burkett, VP of product for display advertising at Gannett says the only thing that is a real durable solution for publishers is their first-party data.
“This IAB specification helps publishers process data in a more efficient manner.” says Burkett
According to the IAB Tech Lab there is concern among privacy advocates that cookie-less technology is not privacy-friendly because it targets people across websites without their consent. Seller-defined audiences addresses those concerns by limiting targeting data to a single URL.
Paul Bannister, head of strategy at CafeMedi says that seller-defined audience segments might eliminate the need for marketers to work with contextual ad firms like Peer39 and Grapeshot.
“These firms acquire contextual data from publishers’ websites and sell them to advertisers, taking a fraction of ad revenue that would have otherwise gone to the publisher.”
“The IAB Tech Lab’s seller-defined audience specification is free to advertisers.” says Bannister
Burkett says advertisers must rely on reputable publishers for data in seller-defined audiences, since there is a potential catch
“Publishers may attempt to sell their valuable audiences, such as car buyers, to advertisers.” said Berkett
GroupM’s Essence global programmatic director Oscar Garza cautioned against establishing standards for contextual advertising without tools to authenticate the publisher’s audience, which he said could create the opportunity for fraud.
According to Senior Director of Product at the IAB Tech Lab Benjamin Dick, data is vetted by the IAB Tech Lab’s Data Transparency Standard programme, which ensures transparency into how companies collect data for advertising.
The IAB Tech Lab also developed an compliance programme for seller-defined audiences that ensures the quality and legitimacy of a publisher’s audience.
