UK digital advertising trade body IAB UK has updated its Gold Standard – an initiative aimed at tackling the challenges faced by the digital advertising industry, such as ad fraud and supply chain transparency.
The scope of the IAB Gold Standard has been expanded to include specifications for retail media and connected TV (CTV). Retail media networks seeking certification certified will need to implement shared IAB definitions for what constitutes an ad impression, a click-through, viewability, video completion rates, and sophisticated invalid traffic. Meanwhile, CTV companies have to implement IAB Tech Lab frameworks and tools to standardise the mechanisms of video delivery in CTV, and track video ad creatives across platforms.
“The digital ad industry doesn’t stand still and the Gold Standard can’t either. The changes we have announced today add up to a substantially strengthened initiative that will help the industry to robustly tackle shared challenges, and shows how CTV and retail media are maturing to embrace a new level of standardisation,” said James Chandler, IAB UK CMO.
IAB UK has also announced the inclusion of a sustainability pillar within the Gold Standard’s criteria. Under this pillar, certified companies are required to utilise tools that prevent inconsistent and inefficient ad refresh rates, and SSPs must implement bid floors to limit the computational load of processing numerous low-value bids.
Elsewhere, IAB UK has made changes to existing pillars. For example, certified direct sellers now need to list all subdomains to make it easier for advertisers to identify made-for-advertising sites and, to combat scam ads, certified companies must have a formal written process in place to handle scam ad alerts from the Financial Conduct Authority.
“As well as building on the criteria, we have also reviewed the certification process to ensure that it’s efficient and easier for companies to navigate,” Chandler added. “We’re calling on IAB members to double down on support for the Gold Standard not just because it is the right thing to do for the industry, but because it makes business sense to take action against ad fraud, cut waste and improve transparency.”
The updates to the Gold Standard have come into effect immediately, with companies that are already certified required to adhere to the changes by 30 April 2025 (or as their annual recertification comes up, if this is sooner).
