IAB Tech Lab Releases Programmatic CTV Genre Guidance Leveraging Content Taxonomy, Including Mappings for Upgrades for Public Comment

Aims to Accelerate the Transition from Content Taxonomy 1.0, Reduce Bidstream Inefficiencies, and Enhance Industry Adoption of Content Taxonomy 2.0 and 3.1; Public Comment Period Open Through January 24, 2025

NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced today the release of multiple deliverables focused on helping the industry most efficiently utilize IAB Tech Lab's taxonomies, focusing on utilization of the Ad Product Taxonomy and CTV genre values. It is now open for public comment until January 24, 2025. These new resources deliver essential tools to help the digital advertising industry transition from the deprecated Content Taxonomy 1.0 to more advanced taxonomies.

"We're tackling the complexity head-on," said Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab. "This work is about simplifying the way the industry connects and operates so businesses can spend less time dealing with friction and more time creating value. It's a step toward making programmatic advertising smarter, faster, and more reliable for everyone."

Developed by the Taxonomy & Mapping Working Group and the Programmatic Supply Chain Working Group, the new guidance includes:

• New OpenRTB attributes `genres` and `gtax`
• Minor update to genres list, releasing as Content Taxonomy 3.1
• Subset of Content Taxonomy 3.1 for CTV Genres and Implementation Guidance
• Content Taxonomy 1.0 → Content Taxonomy 2.0 Mapping and Implementation Guidance
• Bi-directional mapping of Content Taxonomy 1.0 and Ad Product Taxonomy 2.0 and Implementation Guidance

Updates to OpenRTB 2.6 introduce two new fields—`genres` and `gtax`—which convert free-text genre descriptions to enumerated values. These changes will ease the operational burden on DSPs and create enhanced opportunities for curation and contextual buying by providing standardized, actionable data across platforms. In Connected TV (CTV), free-text genre fields make it harder and more expensive for DSPs to interpret bidstream data accurately. Moving to a system with clear, standardized `genres` and the `gtax` framework helps solve these issues, enabling better contextual targeting and more tailored campaigns

Content Taxonomy 1.0 played an important role in shaping content classification, but it was officially deprecated in 2020. Sticking with it today can create challenges, like inefficiencies and a higher risk of mislabeling content or ads. This can result in wasted resources and missed opportunities, especially in programmatic advertising. For example, not showing alcohol to certain age groups or regulations around High Fat Sugar Salt (HFSS) products, or simply business rules, like a sports website not wanting gambling advertising on their inventory. The mapping allows partners that are still using Content 1.0 to interface with Ad Product 2.0 which was created with the express purpose of categorizing the products of advertisements whereas the Content Taxonomy was created to describe the "aboutness" of content.

"This update builds on the foundation of our existing taxonomies, addressing opportunities to enhance efficiency and streamline processes," said Katie Shell, Associate Product Manager, IAB Tech Lab, and co-lead of the Taxonomy & Mapping Working Group. "By introducing these new resources, we're equipping the industry to work more efficiently and build toward the next generation of taxonomies."

The guidance is designed to support organizations in making this transition, whether they are still using Content Taxonomy 1.0 or have already moved to newer standards. IAB Tech Lab provides mappings that ensure compatibility between systems using different versions. These tools enable DSPs using older taxonomies to read and interpret labels from SSPs operating with newer versions, such as Content Taxonomy 2.0.

By aligning taxonomy updates with features like `genres` and `gtax`, the industry is better equipped to support advanced contextual buying strategies. Publishers, advertisers, and platforms will now have the means to categorize content and ads more precisely, resulting in curated inventory and more relevant, privacy-respecting advertising experiences.

"This initiative solves a fundamental challenge for our industry—ensuring that taxonomies integrate effortlessly across platforms," said Temese Szalai, CEO and Principal of Subtextive. "By offering these mappings and implementation guidance, we're addressing inefficiencies and creating real, measurable impact for publishers, advertisers, and platforms alike."

IAB Tech Lab invites all stakeholders to review the guidance and provide feedback during the public comment period, which is open through January 31, 2025. This input will help refine the tools to ensure their effectiveness and alignment with industry needs.

For more information and to participate in the public comment process, visit https://iabtechlab.com/standards/taxonomy-updates-202412

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.

SOURCE IAB Tech Lab