Ad Product Taxonomy 1.1 Continues to Invest in Publisher Controls and Addresses New Regulations in the UK for Advertising Products Within the “High Fat, Sugar, and Salt” (HFSS) Category

IAB Tech Lab, the digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced today that the Ad Product Taxonomy has been updated to support the declaration of ads for foods containing high fat, salt, or sugar (HFSS). The release is open for public comment for a 30-day period until August 13.

The Ad Product Taxonomy is a standardized way for advertisers to declare and describe the product or service advertised in a creative ad unit. The Ad Product Taxonomy 1.1 update helps the industry better navigate new regulations that are being introduced in the UK, focused on restricting the promotion of foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS).

“IAB Tech Lab takes its commitment to help the industry navigate and comply with the fast-changing regulatory landscape extremely seriously,” said Benjamin Dick, Senior Director of Product, IAB Tech Lab. “This update provides immediate tactical support and implementation tools to both advertisers and publishers that enable them to better comply with HFSS advertising regulations.”

IAB Tech Lab recommends immediate adoption of Ad Product Taxonomy by demand-side platforms and service providers to empower advertisers to support HFSS regulation by labeling the content being advertised in their creatives. This will give publishers more granular control over the ads appearing on their websites. It will improve publishers’ ability to block unwanted advertiser demand, which includes lower production value creative units, ads that are unsuitable for the publisher’s target audience, and ads that don’t conform to the publisher’s editorial or brand safety values. In addition, it will enable advertiser requests for competitive conquesting services and ad creative separation.

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“This expansion of Ad Product Taxonomy 1.1 demonstrates IAB Tech Lab’s continued investment in the evolution of publisher controls,” said Kevin Flood, General Partner at FirstPartyCapital. “It will give publishers better insight into the types of programmatic ads that get delivered to their websites and enable stronger publisher reporting and analysis of how ad content correlates to revenue across content channels and audiences. This update will also enable us to better enforce competitive ad separation and ensure brand safety measurements by curating a specific user experience to blocking ads that aren’t consistent with our user experience objectives.”

“Twenty-one countries across the globe including Ireland have either statutory or self-regulation rules for HFSS in place. IAB Tech Lab is uniquely suited to develop and implement standards to create a standardized approach to segment labeling,” said Suzanne McElligott, CEO, IAB Ireland. “The inclusion of HFSS as a new product category in Ad Product Taxonomy 1.1 illustrates Tech Lab’s commitment to providing advertisers and publishers with the tools they need to thrive in a rapidly changing regulatory environment.”

The adoption of Ad Product Taxonomy 1.1 drives significant benefits for all stakeholders in the digital advertising ecosystem. This standardization gives advertisers and publishers the tools to adapt to the new HFSS regulations. At the same time, it grants publishers the additional benefit of better controlling the types of ads that will appear on their website, which leads to better quality and more relevant ads being shown to the end-user, ultimately improving the end-user experience.

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