Proposed Practices Establish Shared Rules and Norms to Improve Programmatic Efficiency, Reduce Transaction Costs, and Increase Transparency; Available for Public Comment Until October 16, 2026

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the availability of its Programmatic Standard Practices, for public comment. The inaugural work from the Programmatic Governance Council establishes shared business rules, norms, and principles intended to improve market efficiency and advertising effectiveness, reduce unnecessary transaction costs, and increase trust and transparency between buyers and sellers of digital media.

“Programmatic advertising depends on buyers and sellers having a common understanding of how transactions should work,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “These practices are about making that understanding clearer and giving the industry a practical framework for using the standards that already exist.”

Programmatic StandardPractices v1 is the Programmatic Governance Council’s first deliverable and outlines how buyers and sellers should use existing standards in programmatic transactions to support a healthy digital media ecosystem. IAB Tech Lab established the Programmatic Governance Council as a standing, senior-level forum for cross-industry collaboration on business-driven governance issues in programmatic advertising.

The practices address business and governance challenges that can add unnecessary transaction costs and reduce efficiency across programmatic advertising. By establishing shared rules, norms, and principles for how buyers and sellers use existing standards in programmatic transactions, the work is intended to create greater consistency, mitigate risk, and strengthen trust and transparency across the ecosystem.

“Having shared practices gives buyers and sellers a clearer foundation for how we work together,” said Ben Hovaness, EVP, Omnicom. “Public comment gives the industry an opportunity to pressure-test that foundation and make sure the guidance reflects how programmatic transactions work in practice.”

Programmatic Standard Practices v1 is available for public comment until October 16, 2026. IAB Tech Lab and the Programmatic Governance Council will use industry feedback to inform the work as the Council continues its cross-industry collaboration on programmatic governance.

To learn more about Programmatic Standard Practices v1 and submit public comments, visit https://iabtechlab.com/Programmatic-Standard-Practices.

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, brands, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; cross-channel programmatic effectiveness and ad measurement; and the impact of LLMs and AI agents on advertising. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, Trusted Server, and the Agentic Roadmap initiative for agentic advertising. Board members and companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.

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SOURCE IAB Tech Lab