Due to Industry Demand, IAB Connected Commerce Summit Returns bigger than ever with a Two-Day Event Experience Addressing the Rise of Retail Media

NEW YORK, November 30, 2023 – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the digital media and marketing trade association, today unveiled its 2024 thought leadership and marketplace events schedule. Aiming to excite, inspire, and motivate, the event lineup addresses key issues across marketing, AI, streaming, gaming, retail, and public policy, as well as responsible media and data use. 

“IAB’s mission is to gather the industry together, and provide insights and tools to help buyers, marketers, and the entire digital ecosystem navigate these shifts,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “The only constant in the digital marketplace is change, and there is probably no time in recent memory where there has been so much in flux at one time. Opportunity and growth are born out of this dynamism, which is incredibly exciting.”

Overview of 2024 Tentpole Events

IAB ALM 2024: On January 28-30, the 2024 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting will gather digital pioneers and business leaders in Marco Island, Florida to discuss critical topics for the industry, and, with its returning theme “It Starts Here,” will set the agenda for the year to come. With nearly 100 speakers including more CMOs than ever before, attendees will hear from leading executives through keynotes, insightful panel discussions, and curated networking experiences covering the most important topics in the digital advertising space such as generative AI, responsible media, commerce, creativity, the evolution of streaming, and much more.

“ALM kicks off the year gathering leaders, thinkers, and builders to tackle the biggest industry issues from the creator economy, cookie deprecation, consumer privacy, policy regulation, and more,” added Cohen. “We also couldn’t have a conference without discussing the state of measurement. Returning to the ALM stage are the CEOs of Comscore, iSpot, Nielsen, and VideoAmp who will participate in the “Great Measurement Debate Part 2” to address measurement opportunities, challenges, and what we, as an industry, can do better to effectively measure campaign effectiveness.”

Some of this year’s featured speakers thus far include:

• Ime Archibong, Vice President, Product Management, Meta
• Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Paramount Global
• Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Senator (R-TN)
• Alysia Borsa, Chief Business Officer and President, Lifestyle, Dotdash Meredith
• Jen Brace, Chief Futurist, Ford
• Jon Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Comscore
• Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future, USC Annenberg School
• Stephanie Dobbs Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
• Esi Eggleston Bracey, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer – Effective January 1, 2024, Unilever
• Nancy Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare North America
• John Halley, President, Paramount Advertising
• Tariq Hassan, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer, McDonald’s USA
• Diana Haussling, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Consumer Experience & Growth, Chief Marketing Officer, Colgate-Palmolive
• Debora Kantt, Executive Director, Futurist, Strategic Foresight & Future Studies Lead, JP Morgan
• Jenna Lebel, Chief Marketing Officer, Liberty Mutual
• Ross McCray, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, VideoAmp
• Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Chief Washington Correspondent; Host, MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”
• Sean Muller, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, iSpot.tv
• Peter Naylor, Vice President, Advertising Sales, Netflix
• Katie Neil, Head of Connected Commerce Marketing and Investments, The Coca-Cola Company
• Amie Owen, Global Chief Commerce Officer, UM Worldwide
• Shelly Palmer, Chief Executive Officer, The Palmer Group
• Karthik Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Nielsen
• Jenny Rooney, Chief Experience Officer, Adweek
• Susan Schiekofer, Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM U.S.
• Jessica Sibley, Chief Executive Officer, TIME
• Resh Sidhu, Global Director Arcadia Creative Studio, Snap Inc
• Aaron Sorkin, Screenwriter, Playwright, and Director
• Jonathan Stringfield, Vice President, Global Business Research & Marketing, Activision Blizzard Media
• Jennie Weber, Chief Marketing Officer, Best Buy Co. Inc.

For the latest on ALM speakers, please visit: iab.com/alm 

Over the course of three days, attendees will hear discussions around critical issues including:

• Generative AI, the Creativity Revolution, and Ethical Crossroads in the Digital Economy
• Navigating the Convergence of Omni-Channel Experiences, Retail Media, Shoppable Ads, and Content
• Privacy in Practice: From Policy to Implementation
• The March Towards a ‘Streaming-First’ Future
• Ethical Pulse: Steering the Digital Industry Towards Responsible Media and Inclusive Best Practices
• A New Era of Creativity: Attention, Innovation, and Personalization

Full agenda can be accessed here: iab.com/alm 

“Attendees come to ALM to hear firsthand from brands and marketers on how they’re adapting to industry change and moving the needle for their companies to thrive in the digital advertising ecosystem,” said Carryl Pierre-Drews, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer, IAB. “This year, we have more CMOs and marketing executives taking the stage at ALM, including Best Buy, Liberty Mutual, McDonald’s, Unilever, and more. In addition to the various sessions, IAB will host a CMO-centric breakfast addressing the critical role of marketers in leading AI efforts.” 

On January 29 at ALM, IAB will host with Adweek the Marketing Vanguard CMO breakfast, an invitation-only gathering of leading marketing executives plus their rising stars. They’ll meet to explore AI’s impact on advertising, marketing, and business strategy. Moderated by Jenny Rooney, Chief Experience Officer at Adweek, the panel discussion at the breakfast, titled “Steering the AI Ship: Exploring the CMO’s Role and Responsibility,” will dive into the CMO’s role in driving company-wide AI efforts, implementation, and usage that is customer-first, on-brand, and responsible.

IAB PlayFronts 2024, March 26-27, 2024, New York City, In-person & Virtual 

The third annual IAB PlayFronts makes its return bigger than ever before, taking place over two days in New York City as well as live-streamed. IAB PlayFronts is dedicated to showcasing advertising and partnership opportunities in the gaming industry. Leading game publishers, streaming platforms, and ad tech partners will demonstrate creative opportunities for brands in the gaming landscape, and present opportunities to elevate the effectiveness of gaming.

IAB Public Policy & Legal Summit 2024, April 2, 2024, Washington, D.C., In-person

With new regulations and state privacy laws taking effect, the digital media landscape is constantly evolving. Hear from experts to stay ahead of all the legal, policy, and technical challenges impacting businesses today. The annual IAB Public Policy & Legal Summit will bring together leaders in advertising, media, technology, and the government to address how to continue to build a sustainable consumer-centric media and marketing ecosystem.

IAB NewFronts 2024, April 29-May 2, 2024, New York City, In-person & Virtual 

IAB NewFronts hosts some of the biggest names in media and entertainment fostering valuable partnerships between brands and native digital video content. Across New York City and streamed virtually, IAB NewFronts is a one-stop shop for media buyers eager to get a first look at the latest digital video content and advertising solutions. For the second year in a row, IAB will have its stage again on Wednesday, May 1st to feature a selection of presenting companies. 

IAB Podcast Upfront 2024, May 9, 2024, New York City, In-person & Virtual

Following IAB NewFronts, IAB Podcast Upfront is designed for brands, agencies, and media buyers to preview the latest in innovative podcast programming. Join leading audio and podcast companies as they showcase the power of podcasts and announce brand new shows and content opportunities for advertisers to align with their brand. IAB Podcast Upfront will take place in New York City and be streamed virtually.

IAB Connected Commerce Summit 2024, September 17-18, New York City, In-person

Back by popular demand, and for two full days, IAB Connected Commerce Summit will dive into where the future of retail commerce is heading and how it could improve business operations. Attendees will hear from thought leaders in e-commerce and retail media about the most impactful strategies that will help brands stay ahead of the game. 

IAB Privacy Compliance Salon, September 22, 2024, Los Angeles, In-person

For the first time, IAB will host the Privacy Compliance Salon bringing together senior privacy leaders in the digital advertising industry for thought-provoking and practical discussions around today’s most challenging privacy compliance issues. Attendees will learn about managing sensitive personal information, the use of data clean rooms, and legal considerations in leveraging AI in marketing campaigns.

IAB State Privacy Law Summit 2024, November 2024, New York City, In-person 

With additional state privacy laws taking effect every year, the third IAB State Privacy Law Summit will convene privacy lawyers and cross-functional privacy professionals to make sense of the latest state privacy law changes. In particular, this event involves interactive deep-dive discussions between panelists and the audience and leverages data flows to give industry participants a clearer understanding of the industry’s challenges and provide pathways for compliance.

For more information and updates regarding IAB’s events, visit: www.iab.com/events. 

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts

Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan

347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706

btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB Announces Robust ALM Speaker Lineup and Themes Addressing Evolving Digital Advertising Marketplace: Organization Also Unveils Events Schedule appeared first on IAB.

New York, NY September 29, 2023 — Continuing its efforts to promote consumer privacy and comply with new state privacy laws, IAB Privacy (IAB) has established a voluntary Accountability Program as part of its Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA) compliance framework. Through the Accountability Program, MSPA Signatories have an opportunity to earn an ‘MSPA Certified’ seal after demonstrating how they comply with the requirements of the MSPA. The ‘MSPA Certified’ seal provides a level of assurance to other participants in the MSPA compliance framework – as well as other compliance stakeholders, such as regulators – that an MSPA signatory is performing the MSPA’s contractual requirements.

“The MSPA is an industry-level contractual vehicle that provides a common set of privacy terms that meets the requirements of all of the state privacy laws,” said Michael Hahn, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “The Accountability Program provides stakeholders with a higher-level assurance that an MSPA signatory complies with its contractual representations to comply with the MSPA’s common set of privacy terms. Those earning the MSPA Certified seal will not only benefit from being acknowledged as putting privacy first but can also tout to their partners that their participation helps meet partner diligence obligations mandated under applicable law.”

To receive this certification, MSPA Signatories that choose to participate must submit to a compliance assessment that will be conducted by an Authorized Assessor designated by IAB.  The assessment includes a questionnaire and interview procedures that will evaluate a company’s MSPA compliance, including:

• How end users are provided with transparency and choice mechanisms consistent with MSPA framework requirements
• How personal information processed through MSPA Covered Transactions is limited to MSPA Signatories and Certified Partners only
• How an applicant processes personal information in connection with Covered Transactions consistent with the MSPA framework’s applicable use limitations
• How an applicant has implemented technology that processes Global Privacy Platform (GPP) signals in a way that complies with MSPA framework requirements and the integrity of GPP signals processed and shared through Covered Transactions

The NAI is the first Authorized Assessor under the Accountability Program. Additional Authorized Assessors will join the program in the coming months and when multiple Authorized Assessors are available, applicants to the Accountability Program will be able to choose which amongst them will review their application.

“The MSPA is an important tool in helping members of the digital advertising community comply with state privacy laws, and the Accountability Program is a critical tool to promote accountability and compliance,” said Leigh Freund, CEO, NAI. “We are pleased to be designated as the first Authorized Assessor for the MSPA Accountability Program and working alongside IAB Privacy to help more MSPA Signatories receive their MSPA Certified seal.”

The MSPA Accountability Program is currently available only to ad tech companies who have signed the MSPA (known as “Downstream Participants” in the MSPA). If those companies are interested in becoming ‘MSPA Certified’ they must complete an application and submit it to info@iabprivacy.com, and then submit to a voluntary assessment of their application by an Authorized Assessor.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

Media Contacts
Michael Vaughan / Brittany Tibaldi
813-210-1706 / 347-487-6794
mvaughan@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post IAB Privacy Unveils Accountability Program as Part of its Multi-State Privacy Agreement for Signatories to Earn Certification appeared first on IAB.

Publishers, Platforms, Agencies, and Brands Will Set the Course for 2024, Tackling the Most Pressing Issues in Digital Marketing including: AI, Commerce, Privacy, Streaming, and More

Confirmed Speakers Include Bob Bakish, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tariq Hassan, and Aaron Sorkin with More to Come 

NEW YORK, October 4, 2023 – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the digital media and marketing trade association, today unveiled details of its Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM), to be held on January 28-30 at the JW Marriott in Marco Island, Florida. As the central thought leadership event for IAB, ALM aims to advance the digital media and marketing industry and set the agenda for the year ahead.

The theme of the event, “It Starts Here”, challenges industry leaders from agencies, publishers, platforms, and brands to strategize, and adapt to ever-changing trends such as generative AI, commerce, privacy, a streaming-first future, responsible media, attention and creativity, and more.

“ALM is inspiration, education, discussion, debate, and where business happens. Attendees come to immerse themselves in the digital challenges and opportunities that will shape our world in the coming years. This year, we have a lot to tackle, from the long-awaited deprecation of third-party cookies to building a vibrant and responsible digital ecosystem. At the end of the day, things get done at ALM. Agendas are set, and we move forward together,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB.

Confirmed speakers this far include:

• Bob Bakish, President, Paramount Global​
• Senator Marsha Blackburn​
• Jon Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Comscore
• Stephanie Dobbs Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)​
• Victoria Garrick Brown, TED Talk speaker, mental health advocate, podcast host, and former Division I athlete
• Tariq Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s​
• Terence Kawaja, CEO & Founder, LUMA Partners​
• Karthik Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Nielsen
• Jenna Lebel, Chief Marketing Officer, Liberty Mutual​
• Aaron Sorkin, Award-Winning Writer/Producer​
• Josh Stinchcomb, Global Chief Revenue Officer, Wall Street Journal | Barron’s Group

*Please check the ALM website at iab.com/alm for the most up-to-date list of speakers.

Cohen continued, “ALM has expanded beyond its historical composition to now represent the full digital ecosystem. We expect more buy-side constituents than ever including leadership from brands and agencies to complement the impressive gathering of publisher, platform, and ad tech executives.”

ALM is where the advertising industry first tackled the biggest trends and new topics such as the demise of the cookie, growth opportunities around direct-to-consumer, eliminating fraud in the digital ecosystem, the value of responsible journalism, government regulation in the data economy, and making mobile work for advertisers and publishers.

For more information, please visit – https://www.iab.com/events/alm-2024/. Agenda and additional list of speakers to be announced soon.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB Announces its Annual Leadership Meeting (ALM 2024), Bringing Industry Leaders to Set the Stage for the Year Ahead appeared first on IAB.

Tech Lab’s US State Privacy Signals Introduced as Part of the Global Privacy Platform to Support State-Level Consent Signaling

New York – October 13, 2022 – As part of a continued effort to ensure that digital advertising participants keep consumer privacy at the forefront and comply with regulations, IAB and IAB Tech Lab have come together to update their privacy protocols and industry-level agreements to support marketers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech companies.

IAB Privacy’s Multi-State Privacy Agreement (MSPA) provides an updated contractual framework to ensure privacy compliance across five new state privacy laws. It works in conjunction with IAB Tech Lab’s US State Signals initiative, which was released today as part of the Global Privacy Platform (GPP). The MSPA and US State Signals specifications are available for public comment until October 27.

The MSPA is an evolution of the Limited Service Provider Agreement (LSPA) put in place in 2020 to ensure compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The updated MSPA helps ensure compliance with CCPA, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA, which goes into effect January 2023) and supports privacy legislation going into effect in 2023, including the Colorado Privacy Act (CoPA), Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CDPA), Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA), and Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA).

This MSPA agreement, in combination with IAB Tech Lab’s Global Privacy Platform (GPP), including its state level signaling, will help member companies address the increasingly complex challenges of global privacy and manage the different consent signals from multiple jurisdictions.

The MSPA includes provisions covering:

• “Gap transactions,” such that it applies contractual terms for those “sales” of personal information where there is ordinarily no contract in place in the digital advertising distribution chain
• Measurement and frequency capping, including when undertaking such activities using service providers
• Contextual advertising and advertising on a publisher’s first party segments
• A “national” approach option to state privacy compliance that is set at the highest common denominator across the new state with privacy laws
• Use of the IAB Tech Lab’s technical specification for US State Signals in the GPP

“The patchwork of state regulations creates an increasingly complicated compliance landscape for the digital advertising industry,” said Michael Hahn, EVP, General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “The IAB Legal Affairs Council has been focused on meeting this challenge for the past year, and we believe the MSPA – the product of collaboration from stakeholders across the industry – is a crucial tool to solve this challenge.”

Hahn further explains that “We have found a way to solve for key advertising use cases that put consumers first, hews closely to the letter of the law, and, like the IAB Limited Service Provider Agreement, will be leveraged by small and large participants alike to meet their obligations.”

IAB’s MSPA and IAB Tech Lab’s US State Signals initiatives help the digital advertising industry to comply with varying privacy regulations across the U.S. The announcements of these initiatives follow the IAB Tech Lab’s recent launch of the GPP, which is a protocol designed to enable companies to manage user consent signals and privacy to be managed at a global scale.

“IAB Tech Lab’s Global Privacy Platform provides the technology toolkit the industry needs so publishers and advertisers can work with their vendors to manage privacy and consent management compliance on a global scale. The GPP also helps to mitigate risk by increasing consumer transparency and control signals that publishers and advertisers receive,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “We believe adopting both the Multi-State Privacy Agreement and the Global Privacy Platform will be a huge step forward for the industry. Privacy matters and so does compliance. We need to get both right.”

To review the proposed standards and provide feedback, please go to www.iabprivacy.com/mspa.html for the MSPA and send your comments to info@iabprivacy.com; and go to iabtechlab.com/us-state-signals for comments on the US State Signals.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

About IAB Technology Laboratory

Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

IAB and IAB Tech Lab Media Contacts
Brittany Tibaldi / Michael Vaughan
347-487-6794 / 813-210-1706
btibaldi@kcsa.com / mvaughan@kcsa.com

The post IAB and IAB Tech Lab Come Together to Help Companies Comply With New Privacy Laws and Place Consumer Privacy at the Forefront appeared first on IAB.

NEW YORK, September 13, 2022 – The state of data will be significantly impacted by new state privacy laws coming into effect in 2023 and legislation that may be enacted in other states in the near future. Given the current trajectory of state-level privacy legislation, and federal legislation now being debated in Congress, managing these different legal standards will be challenging.

That’s among the conclusions revealed in IAB’s State of Data 2022 Part II: Preparing for the New Addressability Landscape report, commissioned by IAB and executed by MediaScience, which included qualitative, in-depth interviews with 30 senior-level, data decision-makers at brands, agencies, and publishers.

The report, to be released at IAB Audience Connect on September 13, 2022, highlights new privacy legislation, the deprecation of third-party cookies and identifiers, and platform policies that affect data collection, addressability, measurement, and optimization for digital advertising and marketing.

2022 marks the fifth year and sixth installment of this research, which aims to understand market readiness for rapid shifts around data use, privacy and addressability, and provide an overview of scalable solutions brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech firms can adopt today while protecting consumer privacy.

“While Google’s decision to postpone the deprecation of third-party cookies until 2024 may feel like a reprieve, the industry is far from off the hook,” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “The industry is already operating with significantly less signal given the changes by Apple, Firefox, and others. Consumers need transparency and control. We need addressability and measurement solutions that are privacy-by-design and fully compliant with state, Federal, and international standards.”

Companies are struggling to keep up — and facing compromises

Creating consistent measures and protocols that work inside their companies and with external partners has become a major issue. In the face of rising complexity, the majority of respondents agree a “one size fits all” approach spanning multiple jurisdictions is probably necessary. But there is a significant trade-off: failing to leverage data that is fully permitted in certain states means lost opportunities.

We can advance privacy and enable advertising to reach the right consumers at the same time, but misguided legislative efforts risk harming both. The IAB Legal Affairs Council plans to roll out an MSPA (Multi-State Privacy Agreement) and Global Privacy Platform through the IAB Tech Lab as solutions.

The goal is a practical multi-jurisdictional approach to compliance that creates consistency where state laws are similar and options when requirements are unique to a state. IAB is ensuring that the essential functions of the ad-supported internet — measurement, frequency capping, engaging in programmatic and contextual ads and utilizing publisher’s first party segments when consumers opt-out — still work.

Consumers know what they’re giving up, but don’t know what they’re getting

The senior-level, data decision-makers at brands, agencies, and publishers interviewed for this study agree that consumer trust is paramount. Yet the value proposition for consumers remains unclear. While the industry is better about disclosing what data it will use, it is not doing enough to help consumers understand why gathering their data delivers real benefits.

Myopia about first party data ignores up to 80% of consumers

Investing in deterministic first party datasets (data from their logged-in, “known” audiences) remains vital. Yet, in most instances this only represents about 20% of potential consumers. Marketers need proven, probabilistic solutions to target and measure the 80% of consumers who are not part of their first party data.

The publishers interviewed were optimistic about the use of Seller Defined Audiences (e.g., custom cohorts) as one solution for addressability. Still, for this to succeed, publishers must do more to drive buy-side awareness and adoption.

Can smaller publishers afford to keep up?

Ironically, privacy legislation may benefit platforms and publishing giants while inadvertently punishing smaller publishers who have small but intensely loyal audiences. While there are a range of third-party tools that can help power data collection and enrichment, only a handful of interviewees have the budgets to test these new approaches. The consensus is that there are too many tools and not enough resources to test or manage them all — particularly among smaller publishers.

“With third-party cookies, the sky has been falling for more than a decade. No wonder there’s a deepening disconnect between how prepared senior-level, data decision-makers feel, and how prepared they actually are,” said Angelina Eng, Vice President, Programmatic+Data Center, IAB. “But no matter what happens with cookies, the rising tide of patchwork regulation is already here.”

Please visit iab.com/state-of-data-2022 for more information about the IAB’s 2022 State of Data: Preparing for the New Addressability Landscape report.

And don’t miss our in-depth discussion on the findings from the report with the State of Data Town Hall Series on October 18 (State of Data Town Hall: The New Privacy Landscape) and November 15 (State of Data Town Hall: Data Collection and Addressability).

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Kate Tumino / Brittany Tibaldi
212-896-1252 / 347-487-6794
ktumino@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post The Looming Peril Isn’t Cookies. It’s Legislation. appeared first on IAB.

What Happened?

On February 2, 2022, the Belgian data protection authority (the “APD”) released a decision following its investigation of IAB Europe’s administration of the Transparency and Consent Framework (“TCF”).  The TCF is a set of technical standards and policies designed to help all parties in the digital advertising chain comply with the EU’S GDPR and ePrivacy Directive when processing personal data (or other information stored on a user’s device, such as cookies). The TCF works by encoding and signaling users’ privacy preferences in transparency and consent strings (“TC Strings”).

The APD’s decision asserts that for GDPR purposes, TC Strings are personal data and that IAB Europe is a co-controller of TC Strings (along with other entities that process TC Strings). Further, the decision orders IAB Europe to take certain steps to bring its processing of any personal data in TC Strings into compliance with the GDPR.

The IAB joins IAB Europe in disagreeing with this conclusion.

What does the APD’s decision order the IAB Europe to do?

The APD’s decision orders IAB Europe to take the following actions:

• Establish its own legal basis for processing TC Strings insofar as it is a controller of personal data in connection with TC Strings.
• Delete TC Strings with globally-scoped consents from servers IAB Europe controls (the current version of the TCF no longer supports globally-scoped consents, in any case).
• Make updates to the TCF, including:
  • Improving the technical and organizational measures used to ensure the integrity of TC Strings.
  • Implementing audit procedures for TCF participants to evaluate their GDPR compliance.
  • Removing legitimate interest as an available legal basis under the TCF.
  • Setting new standards for and increasing the uniformity of the user interfaces presented by participating consent management platforms (CMPs).
• Take procedural steps the GDPR requires of controllers of personal data, including updating records of processing activities, carrying out a data protection impact assessment, and appointing a Data Protection Officer.
• Pay an administrative fine.

The order provides IAB Europe with two months to develop an action plan for complying with the decision that can then be executed within a six-month time frame. IAB Europe is not prohibited from operating the TCF during this interim period.

What is the scope of the remedial actions ordered by the APD?

IAB Europe was the subject of the APD’s investigation, and the GDPR compliance issues identified by the APD are focused on the IAB Europe’s role as the Managing Organization of the TCF. Accordingly, the orders issued in the APD’s decision are limited to the IAB Europe in its role as the TCF’s Managing Organization.

Further, the decision clearly distinguishes its findings regarding the IAB Europe’s role in managing the TCF and TC Strings from other processing of personal data that may occur through OpenRTB advertising transactions. The Chairman of the APD’s litigation chamber, Hielke Hijmans, also emphasized that the decision is limited to the TCF, “not the whole real time bidding system[.]”

Every controller of personal data under the GDPR is responsible for establishing its own legal basis for processing personal data, but the APD’s decision does not order specific actions regarding any entity other than IAB Europe. For example, the decision states explicitly that the IAB Tech Lab merely acts as a provider of the OpenRTB system and is not a data controller for any personal data processed through OpenRTB.

How is the IAB Europe responding to the decision?

IAB Europe released a statement rejecting the APD’s findings, and have published a “FAQ” document available for download here. Specifically, IAB Europe disagrees with the conclusion that it is a controller of any personal data in TC Strings as a consequence of its administration of the TCF. IAB Europe is currently appealing the ruling.

In parallel with its efforts to challenge the APD’s novel conclusion that IAB Europe is a “controller” of TC Strings, IAB Europe will convene its TCF working group and develop an action plan for responding to the APD’s orders concerning updates to the TCF itself.

The IAB and The IAB Tech Lab are actively supporting IAB Europe in responding to the APD’s decision and in meeting the challenges posed by it. IAB Tech Lab is working to assist IAB Europe with incorporating new products and technical standards that will meet the new market requirements.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Kate Tumino / Brittany Tibaldi
212-896-1252 / 347-487-6794
ktumino@kcsa.com/ btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post IAB Responds to Belgian DPA Ruling appeared first on IAB.

NEW YORK — November 16, 2021 – In 2023, the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) will go into effect. To help companies serving the Connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) digital advertising supply chain prepare to comply with the legislation, today IAB’s Project CCPA Crosswalk Working Group released “Project Crosswalk: Addressing CCPA Compliance within the CTV/OTT Marketplace.”

The white paper examines stakeholders within the CTV/OTT marketplace, how participants disclose and process personal information, how they view themselves when applying the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) definitions and corresponding compliance obligations, whether and what friction points exist when addressing CCPA compliance, and potential solutions deserving further exploration. The report will be used as a basis to develop recommendations for how CPRA opt-outs might work under the new law.

“The CTV landscape is incredibly fragmented with different CTV providers using different identifiers and definitions of who is a business, service provider, and third party,” said Michael Hahn, SVP & General Counsel, IAB and IAB Tech Lab. “This report provides an overview of the landscape. From here, we are starting to scope out solutions to ensure that CTV and OTT companies are compliant when CPRA becomes law.”

The report found that:

• Approximately 75% of survey respondents state that they “sell” personal information within the CTV/OTT ecosystem, there is a lack of consensus on who should provide the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link, and where and how to offer such an option. This is the biggest stand-out challenge when operationalizing CCPA compliance in the CTV/OTT environment.
• CTV/OTT targeting often happens at the household level via IP address but can also include other proprietary user IDs. Publishers and advertisers will use this data, often in combination with viewing data, to segment and then target users on their devices.
• Most platforms, device providers, advertisers, and content providers view themselves as a “business” under the CCPA. However, the ad tech intermediaries, such as Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), and ad servers, were evenly divided in describing their roles as a “business, “service provider,” or “third-party.” Measurement companies mainly take the position that they are a “service provider” under the CCPA.

The Project CCPA Crosswalk Working Group was created by the IAB Legal Affairs Council and focuses on:

• Identifying current CCPA practices in the CTV/OTT marketplace
• Identifying data flows that are relevant to CCPA analysis
• Developing a common framework for addressing CCPA classifications
• Determining next steps in order to prepare scalable CPRA/CCPA compliance solutions to address data sales and service provider disclosures

Today, IAB’s CCPA Consent Framework and Limited Service Provider Agreement have been widely adopted and leveraged by hundreds of companies to comply with the CCPA. The IAB Legal Affairs working group is working to develop a recommendation for CPRA.

The “Project Crosswalk: Addressing CCPA Compliance within the CTV/OTT Marketplace” Report, which is sponsored by OneTrust, can be downloaded here.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises more than 650 leading media companies, brands, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

IAB Media Contacts
Kate Tumino / Brittany Tibaldi
212-896-1252 / 347-487-6794
ktumino@kcsa.com/ btibaldi@kcsa.com

The post IAB Unveils Assessment of State of Compliance for CTV and OTT to Prepare for Looming CPRA Regulation appeared first on IAB.

What is IAB doing?  

IAB first engaged on this issue in Florida after the above-noted press conference, educating lawmakers with a series of letters illustrating the adverse consequences of an approach that would create ineffective and confusing privacy rights for Florida consumers, and we ensured that these concerns were raised in discussions with the Speaker and the Governor. IAB further advised leading state Senators on building an alternative approach that avoided needlessly onerous data restrictions, and with the legislature expected to resume debate on this issue soon, we intend to continue our education of key lawmakers. On August 25^th, IAB will join a group of organizations, covering industries ranging from finance to retail operations to hotels and lodging, in hosting a discussion on the impact of privacy legislation on the Florida business community to guide policy leaders as they renew consideration of privacy measures in the months to come.

The post IAB Sponsors Florida Privacy Conference to Extend Advocacy in the State appeared first on IAB.

Today, IAB is releasing a white paper that explores key topics that will determine if GPCs succeed in reflecting consumer preferences in an efficient manner that balances business, consumer, and regulator interests.  Our white paper reviews the legal basis for GPCs in California law, discusses operational considerations for GPCs related to identity verification, consent, and preference management, and explores the built-in safeguards included in the CPRA to protect both consumers’ interests and competition in the design and implementation of GPCs. We also discuss pertinent considerations for design of technical standards to implement GPCs consistent with IAB Tech Lab’s work on the opt out of sale preference signal.

Our white paper comes at a significant time of transition in California privacy law. In 2019, the California Attorney General issued rules under the CCPA requiring that companies comply with GPC signals. Recently, the California AG has signaled its intent to continue actively enforcing these rules. However, the CPRA takes a markedly different approach to GPCs, focusing on competition, fairness, and choice in adoption of GPCs, and providing the new California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) broad rulemaking authority to set fair rules of the road for implementation of GPCs. IAB’s white paper informs the discussion during this period of transition between these differing approaches to GPCs.

Successful implementation of GPCs will require a thoughtful approach to the upcoming rulemaking process with feedback from industry, regulators, and consumers. IAB is committed to convening and facilitating discussions on GPCs as this issue becomes increasingly important to provide a common technical solution for complying with new privacy laws enacted at the state level.

Download the Global Privacy Controls White Paper

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