Introducing IAB Techlab Programmatic Guides: First Guide For CTV

Find the standardized technology you need for executing on the media and campaign goals specific to your operations, and use these practical guides to facilitate your ad implementation.

From driving efficient delivery of programmatic ads on connected TV (CTV), to addressing ad fraud and resolving fragmentation in user identity, the crucial work and standards we develop with our community, here at IAB Tech Lab, underpin the foundations of technologies within our industry.

Let’s face it though: for anyone who is on the outside looking in, any new starters or just those who aren’t involved in the weeds of the tech, it can be overwhelming!

Our standards are more than individual solutions to individual challenges; they work together to provide efficiency and transparency all along the digital advertising supply chain. Unfortunately, this interdependency with our standards is only apparent within the depths of each technical standard, and even then you may not know about a vital Tech Lab solution that could address certain challenges in your ad tech operations.

To address this issue, we are proud to announce the launch of our newest (and potentially our most valuable) resource—the new IAB Tech Lab Programmatic Guides!

Our programmatic guides work as a knowledge base for the industry. Available online with an easy-to-navigate web interface, these guides outline all the technical specifications, guidance, and additional resources used for a given media channel, like serving video in CTV and working with server-side ad insertion (SSAI); or how to work with our standards and tools to combat ad fraud.

Our first programmatic guide focuses on CTV. It includes a set of use cases for handling details like preparing assets, responding to an ad request, mitigating ad fraud, and enabling targeting. More guides will soon follow. The next one we are planning to launch before year end, is a programmatic guide focused on mitigating ad fraud. 

While the CTV Programmatic Guide is ready for use right now, this resource is living documentation that can be updated as needed, Tech Lab Programmatic Guides will improve with use and feedback over time. It’s a community resource that lives on GiHub. Anyone can participate by forking a copy, submitting a pull request, or creating an issue to propose added details, new guides, or corrections.

Visit iabtechlab.com/programmatic-guides and explore for yourself! Find out what assets you need to submit for a CTV campaign. Or discover the best way to incorporate targeting or mitigate ad fraud. What about measurement or brand safety? We cover details on how to do that too.

CTV is just a start. Keep an eye out for new guides to come in 2022 and beyond. Let us know what you think or suggest a guide we can add to the queue. Email us at support@iabtechlab.com with any suggestions or feedback.

Katie Stroud
Senior Product Manager

IAB Tech Lab