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IAB Tech Lab integrates UniversalAdId into OM SDK for enhanced measurement

New feature enables cross-platform ad tracking and reconciliation for advertising ecosystem.

Luis Rijo

• 4 min read

The Interactive Advertising Bureau Technology Laboratory introduced UniversalAdId support in the Open Measurement Software Development Kit this week. The announcement on June 11, 2025, marks a significant step forward in standardizing creative identification across digital advertising platforms, according to industry documentation.

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The integration builds upon the Ad Creative ID Framework developed by IAB Tech Lab's Advanced TV Commit Group. This framework establishes consistent identifier usage for advertisements across every technical platform they encounter, addressing fundamental challenges in ad decisioning, counting, and measurement processes.

Starting with OM SDK version 1.5.5, applications and Ad SDKs can pass through idRegistry and idValue attributes from the UniversalAdId tag within VAST documents. The implementation maintains full backward compatibility with existing API structures, introducing no breaking changes to current integrations.

Summary

Who: IAB Technology Laboratory, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the integration alongside Ciprian Caba from Adswizz (a SiriusXM Company) as SDK Squad Manager.

What: Integration of UniversalAdId support into Open Measurement SDK version 1.5.5, enabling consistent creative identification across advertising platforms and measurement systems.

When: The announcement was made on June 11, 2025, with the feature becoming available in OM SDK v1.5.5.

Where: The integration affects Android, iOS, tvOS, and Web Video SDK implementations across the digital advertising ecosystem, particularly impacting Connected TV and streaming media environments.

Why: The integration addresses fundamental challenges in ad decisioning, counting, and measurement by providing persistent creative identifiers across fragmented technical systems, bridging gaps between linear programming and on-demand video environments while improving reconciliation processes for measurement providers.

UniversalAdId functions as the authoritative source for creative identification. When advertisements are trafficked through multiple systems, each platform typically generates its own identifier for the creative. The UniversalAdId refers to a unique creative identifier maintained across systems by registration authorities working with creative owners.

These creative identifiers may be generated through authoritative programs including the AD-ID program in the United States, Clearcast in the United Kingdom, and ARPP in France. Many countries maintain ad registration authorities specifically for linear advertising purposes, according to the technical specifications.

The Open Measurement SDK serves as the industry standard for impression and viewability measurement. Its single implementation supports multiple verification partners while reducing maintenance costs and increasing measurement coverage across platforms. The SDK enables measurement providers to reconcile impression measurement with specific advertiser creatives more seamlessly.

Technical implementation involves appending provided values to the AdSession and transmitting them during the sessionStart event, similar to the customReferenceData attribute. The idValue and idRegistry content joins as a string format: "idValue; idRegistry". For example: "CNPA0484000H; ad-id.org".

The feature operates across Android, iOS, tvOS, and Web Video SDKs. All AdSession types including Native, JavaScript, and HTML support transporting UniversalAdId information through the OMID API using the Context object.

This development addresses critical gaps in Connected TV and streaming media measurement. Traditional linear programming and on-demand video environments have operated with different identification systems, creating measurement challenges for advertisers seeking unified campaign insights across platforms.

The timing aligns with broader industry efforts to standardize measurement practices. According to industry reports, IAB Tech Lab announced its 2025 product roadmap on January 29, focusing on technical standards development across digital advertising sectors. The organization plans to deliver 31 new specifications throughout 2025, compared to 23 releases in 2024.

Connected TV advertising has reached a critical juncture with 75% of CTV spend being transacted programmatically, according to recent analysis. The rapid proliferation of ad formats has created significant challenges for industry-wide adoption and scalability, making standardization efforts increasingly important.

The UniversalAdId integration represents part of a broader framework addressing measurement consistency. IAB Tech Lab previously announced the Ad Creative ID Framework in June 2024, aiming to improve Connected TV advertising through unique identifier systems for ad creatives, according to industry coverage.

Measurement providers have increasingly adopted Open Measurement standards. Google integrated the Open Measurement SDK into Google Mobile Ads and Interactive Mobile Ads SDKs in July 2021, according to platform updates. This integration made in-app inventory more measurable for advertisers using Display & Video 360.

The implementation enables several measurement improvements. Frequency capping becomes more precise when the same advertisement appears under different identifiers across platforms. Creative reconciliation simplifies for advertisers seeking clearer pictures of ad placement and performance across various environments.

Cross-platform reporting benefits from unique identifier usage. Measurement providers can track campaign performance more accurately when advertisements maintain consistent identification throughout their delivery lifecycle. This addresses long-standing challenges in attribution and performance measurement for multi-platform campaigns.

The adoption of UniversalAdId support requires integration through the OMID API using Context objects. AdSession configuration remains straightforward across different implementation scenarios, maintaining the SDK's reputation for ease of integration among measurement partners.

Industry measurement standards continue evolving with privacy-focused initiatives. IAB Tech Lab released ID-Less Solutions Guidance in November 2024, according to research findings. This comprehensive framework provides technical specifications for maintaining advertising effectiveness without traditional user identifiers.

The Open Measurement initiative originated from collaborative industry efforts to create universal standards for app publishers. The SDK enables standardized measurement data provision for advertisers while reducing complexity associated with multiple SDK integrations or deprecated technologies like VPAID.

Viewability measurement remains central to advertising effectiveness assessment. According to measurement research, Integral Ad Science reported varying viewability rates across different platforms and formats in its 2024 Media Quality Report, highlighting the importance of standardized measurement approaches.

The integration addresses competitive separation requirements. Advertisers can ensure appropriate spacing between competing advertisements when consistent identification enables proper recognition across different technical environments and platforms.

Campaign reconciliation processes benefit significantly from persistent creative identifiers. Advertisers gain improved visibility into advertisement placement and performance measurement across fragmented technical landscapes, particularly in Connected TV environments where multiple systems handle ad delivery.

VAST document integration remains seamless with the new UniversalAdId support. The feature extracts identification information from existing VAST tags without requiring substantial changes to current advertising technology implementations or workflows.

The announcement from Ciprian Caba, SDK Squad Manager at Adswizz, emphasizes industry excitement about supporting broader adoption of the Ad Creative ID Framework. Leveraging OM SDK to pass creative identifiers to measurement partners should improve reconciliation processes across advertising campaigns.

OM SDK certification continues expanding throughout the advertising technology ecosystem. castLabs achieved OM SDK certification from IAB Tech Lab in October 2024, reinforcing commitment to accurate measurement and cross-platform compatibility for addressable television advertising.

Timeline

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