Industry adopts programmatic curation standards after IAB framework gains traction

The programmatic advertising industry has experienced significant momentum around curation practices following the IAB Tech Lab's announcement on December 16, 2024, establishing formal standards that had existed for over two years. Major platforms including Google Ad Manager, Microsoft Advertising, and various supply-side platforms have integrated these frameworks into their operations, signaling a fundamental shift in how digital advertising inventory is packaged and delivered.

According to Anthony Katsur, Chief Executive Officer at IAB Tech Lab, the organization had developed a comprehensive Curation Framework consisting of four fundamental components well before the current industry buzz emerged. His LinkedIn post from November 19, 2024, revealed that the standards had been available since early 2023, stating: "The IAB Tech Lab has had a robust curation standard for the past two and a half years! We were almost three years ahead of the market on curation."

The framework encompasses Seller-Defined Audiences, which Katsur suggests should be renamed to "Curated Audiences" for clarity. These specifications enable packaging and signaling of curated supply pools based on seller ingredients including audience characteristics, content metadata, and enrichment signals. The system can operate in an ID-less environment to maintain privacy compliance.

Taxonomies form another critical component, providing standardized language for describing content and audiences. According to the IAB Tech Lab documentation, Content Taxonomy 3.0 offers more granular categorization than its predecessor, while Audience Taxonomy 1.1 captures demographics, purchase intent, and personal interests. Both taxonomies have been developed collaboratively by the ecosystem and remain open and transparent.

Data Transparency Standards complement the framework by providing ingredient labels similar to those found on food products. According to the IAB documentation, this includes a vigorous audit and certification program that has operated for two years, informing buyers precisely what components comprise their curated media inventory.

The SupplyChain object represents the fourth pillar, functioning as a real-time ledger that tracks inventory provenance between buyers and original sellers. According to Katsur's analysis, this standard has existed for at least five years but remains underutilized despite its relevance to curation conversations.

Hillary Slattery, Senior Director of Programmatic Product Management at IAB Tech Lab, announced the formation of a dedicated Curation Framework Working Group under the Addressability Working Group banner. The initiative aims to address industry feedback and drive practical implementation of the existing standards. According to Slattery's December 16, 2024 announcement, the working group will focus on preventing data leakage for publishers, improving visibility of curation partners, and conducting framework testing throughout 2025.

Industry adoption has accelerated significantly in recent months. Google announced curation capabilities within Google Ad Manager on November 4, 2024, according to Peentoo Patel, Director of Product Management. The system allows agencies to work directly with curation partners through their Agency Seat, targeting data segments and curated auction packages while maintaining streamlined operations.

Microsoft expanded its Advertising Partner Program on February 27, 2025, to include curation technology providers for the first time. According to the company's announcement, curator partners operate as specialized intermediaries between advertisers and publishers, helping optimize digital advertising inventory while leveraging Microsoft's global footprint and multi-market reach.

The Australian digital advertising market has also embraced curation practices. According to the IAB Australia Executive Technology Council's May 27, 2025 explainer, programmatic curation represents a tactic where sellers leverage supply-side platform capabilities to select and aggregate premium, brand-safe inventory enriched with relevant audience targeting data and advanced optimization.

Mitchell Greenway, APAC Managing Director at OpenX, explained the critical role of quality audience data in programmatic curation. According to his June 5, 2025 response to IAB Australia's member questions, "Access to high-quality audience data through supply-side targeting is critical to effective programmatic curation, as it ensures campaigns deliver performance, relevance, and scale while minimizing waste."

Transparency through the supply chain emerged as a fundamental requirement. According to Greenway, transparency allows buyers to validate inventory quality by outlining domains, applications, auction mechanics, and fee structures within curated deals. This visibility enables strategic decision-making while minimizing intermediaries and maximizing working media effectiveness.

Ronak Shah, Global Product Marketing Manager at InMobi, distinguished programmatic curation from traditional programmatic advertising. According to his June 5, 2025 analysis, traditional programmatic focuses primarily on efficiently connecting supply with demand at scale using automation and algorithmic buying. Programmatic curation builds upon this foundation by incorporating strategic human oversight, enriched contextual intelligence, and advanced audience targeting.

The distinction between curation and private marketplaces became clearer through industry analysis. According to Shah, both approaches offer controlled access to premium inventory, but curation takes this further by combining detailed publisher insights and sophisticated supply-side signals to proactively package inventory aligned precisely to advertisers' strategic goals.

Daniel O'Connor, ANZ Director of Sales at StackAdapt, emphasized the proactive nature of curation for brand safety. According to his June 5, 2025 comments, curated deals are built with intentional controls leveraging contextual categories, exclusion lists, and direct relationships with vetted publishers. These upfront parameters ensure both brand safety and contextual alignment.

Operational challenges have emerged alongside adoption benefits. According to O'Connor, curation introduces complexity through more moving parts, potential audience duplication, and scale limitations if not managed properly. Measurement integration and pricing inconsistency represent additional considerations for organizations implementing curated solutions.

The privacy landscape has influenced curation adoption significantly. According to Shah's analysis, programmatic curation naturally aligns with evolving privacy regulations through context-driven and privacy-centric approaches. Supply-side platforms enhance this capability by leveraging publisher-level data, context-based signals, and aggregated audience insights without reliance on individual identifiers.

Technical implementations have varied across platforms. Google's Ad Manager system currently supports integration with eight major data providers according to the November 4, 2024 announcement. The platform offers three primary functions: adding data segments to auction packages, subscribing to curated auction packages, and adding data segments to publisher deals.

Market analysis from Equativ revealed strategic advantages for supply-side platforms in curation services. According to their October 24, 2024 analysis, SSPs maintain direct relationships with publishers, creating natural advantages in supply path decisioning. This positioning allows pre-qualification of inventory and consolidation of targeting parameters under single Deal IDs.

The analysis identified significant data preservation benefits when implementing SSP-based solutions. According to Equativ's research, match rate losses between platforms typically range from 40% to 70%, while every third-party cookie sync results in substantial data deterioration. These findings underscore the efficiency gains possible through consolidated curation approaches.

Commercial considerations have shaped implementation strategies. According to the IAB Australia guidance, curated supply commands premium pricing, requiring buyers to factor additional costs into their strategies and determine when curated solutions genuinely meet their needs. Over-curation risks reducing reach across valuable niche supply sources that lack resources for validation and verification requirements.

Industry standardization efforts continue developing. The IAB Tech Lab renamed its Seller Defined Audiences specifications as the Curation Framework while maintaining core functionality. According to the organization's guidance, the framework includes audience and content taxonomies for common language, data transparency for audience creation and management standards, and supply chain object transparency for inventory selling partnerships.

The marketing community faces significant implications from these developments. Curation enables more precise audience targeting across vetted premium supply while maintaining campaign effectiveness. Brand safety improvements through proactive controls and direct publisher relationships provide marketers greater confidence in ad placement environments.

Efficiency gains represent another crucial benefit. According to industry analysis, curation simplifies processes for advertisers through better placement controls and improved transparency, thereby reducing wasted ad spend. Premium productization allows publishers to monetize genuinely premium inventory and audiences more seamlessly.

Innovation opportunities have emerged from curation trends. According to the IAB Australia assessment, the advertising technology industry benefits from genuine innovation opportunities to build solutions driving partner value. The curation trend provides new waves of technical creativity and potentially establishes new categories of dedicated solutions and vendors.

Computational efficiency improvements benefit the broader ecosystem. According to the analysis, demand-side platforms have long battled relentless increases in computational effort measured in queries per second required for integration with multiple parties and real-time supply filtering. Curation practices prove naturally more efficient and therefore more sustainable.

Future developments will likely focus on standardization and best practices. According to IAB Australia's guidance, as new programmatic buying types gain popularity, the organization will provide awareness, support, and best practices. Standards aligning to curation already exist through previously developed frameworks, providing foundation for continued development.

Testing and research requirements remain critical for organizations considering curation implementation. According to industry guidance, relatively new programmatic practices require dedicated teams and partners to invest time in assessing and researching available opportunities, then properly testing requirements, available solutions, and outcomes.

The programmatic advertising landscape continues evolving as curation gains mainstream adoption. Technical standards established years ago are finally receiving practical implementation across major platforms, suggesting the industry has reached sufficient maturity to embrace more sophisticated inventory management approaches.

Timeline

March 2020: IAB Tech Lab releases initial components of what would become the Curation Framework, including early versions of taxonomies and data transparency standards.

Early 2023: IAB Tech Lab establishes comprehensive Curation Framework with four fundamental components: Seller-Defined Audiences, Taxonomies, Data Transparency, and SupplyChain object specifications.

October 24, 2024: Equativ analysis reveals SSP advantages in supply path curation, highlighting data preservation benefits and efficiency gains.

October 21, 2024: Adsquare launches curation service in Berlin, introducing three specialized Private Marketplaces for enhanced programmatic media buying.

November 4, 2024: Google Ad Manager unveils curation tools, providing agencies with optimization workflows and audience targeting capabilities.

November 19, 2024: Anthony Katsur publishes LinkedIn post revealing IAB Tech Lab's two-year-old curation standards, calling for industry adoption.

December 16, 2024: IAB Tech Lab officially announces Curation Framework Working Group formation and rebrands Seller Defined Audiences as Curated Audiences.

February 12, 2025: Equativ expands into Japan's digital advertising market, bringing programmatic curation platform Maestro to the region.

February 27, 2025: Microsoft Advertising Partner Program expands to include curators, marking first expansion to curation technology providers.

May 27, 2025: IAB Australia publishes comprehensive programmatic curation explainer, providing industry definitions and implementation guidance.

June 5, 2025: IAB Australia Executive Technology Council releases member Q&A on programmatic curation, addressing practical implementation questions from industry leaders.