Gold Standard’s scope expanded to include retail media & CTV for first time

From today, we have introduced a number of updates to bolster the effectiveness and expand the scope of the Gold Standard - our multi-pronged initiative to tackle challenges in the digital advertising industry, such as ad fraud and supply chain transparency - which forms a core part of Government-led work to address digital advertising harms.  

CTV & Retail Media

Significantly, the Gold Standard has been expanded to encompass specifications for retail media and CTV for the first time. 

For CTV companies, certification includes implementing IAB Tech Lab frameworks and tools to standardise the mechanisms of video delivery in CTV and track video ad creatives across platforms - both of which stand to significantly improve transparency and standardisation within the market. 

Meanwhile, Retail Media Networks looking to become Gold Standard 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. These definitions are aligned with the media metrics in IAB Europe’s Retail Media Measurement Standards and the certification process will be independently audited by ABC. 

Sustainability

IAB UK has also introduced a new sustainability pillar into the Gold Standard’s criteria that formalises steps to help reduce carbon emissions from ad load within the digital ad ecosystem. This includes requiring certified companies to utilise tools that prevent inconsistent and inefficient ad refresh rates, as well as requiring SSPs to implement bid floors to limit the computational load - and therefore the carbon output - of processing numerous low-value bids. 

In addition to this, further changes have been made to existing pillars within the Gold Standard to strengthen the effectiveness of the initiative across multiple fronts. For example:

• In order to help advertisers identify Made for Advertising sites created by publishers, certified direct sellers will need to list all subdomains
• To help combat scam ads, certified companies will need to have a formal written process in place to handle scam ad alerts from the Financial Conduct Authority 

Commenting on the changes, James Chandler, IAB UK’s CMO, says: “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. 

“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. 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.”

Lee Roberts, Head of Sales at Tesco Media & Insight Platform, added: “Retail media’s rapid growth in recent years means it’s no longer a nice-to-have on plans but a mainstay of the media mix for many brands. With this maturity comes the need for standardisation, so that advertisers have the transparency and consistency they now expect. As proud supporters of the IAB Gold Standard, Tesco Media & Insight Platform welcomes this update and the opportunity it gives for retail media networks to demonstrate to brands that they can have confidence in the media they’re buying.”

The changes outlined above will apply to all new Gold Standard certifications from today (16 Jan). Companies that are already Gold Standard certified will need to adhere to it by 30 April 2025 or as their annual recertification comes up, whichever is soonest.