Building Capabilities for Growth

Twenty fifteen was a landmark year for our industry—and for IAB. Digital advertising is now a $50 billion sector in the U.S. It’s an astonishing achievement, and one that was not readily apparent 20 years ago when IAB was founded. As impressive as this growth is, we cannot simply celebrate the past. The industry must look forward and ask where the next $50 billion will come from.

This is neither an idle nor a vain question. Growth in our industry will create new jobs in digital media and technology as well as in the other industries we support. Growth implies new ways of winning people’s hearts and minds—with ads and entertainment, yes, but also with news, ideas, and vital information.

Hence the IAB mission: To empower the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. And helping you—our members—is how we strengthen those industries, and we are more capable of that today than ever. In five years, our membership has expanded to over 600 companies.

Our financial state is strong. Our staff includes nearly 70 high-performing professionals. Our research, lobbying, and thought leadership underpin the way our members grow their businesses. Our events have built a powerful reputation as the convening platform for thought leadership in our industry.

IAB has made great strides in building capabilities to meet the demands of the industry for growth in the U.S. and across the globe. In 2015 we saw significant achievements from the IAB Technology Laboratory, the IAB Digital Video Center of Excellence, the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, and the IAB Education Foundation. We announced a new organization, the IAB Data Center of Excellence, which will bring expertise to an area critical to the health of the industry.

Our progress in the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative is paving the way for a digital GRP that will allow our industry to plan, buy, and sell advertising across all platforms and media seamlessly.

We responded aggressively to threats like ad blocking. Thanks to excellent engagement from industry executives on IAB boards and in our other leadership groups, we took the lead in tackling this issue domestically and abroad. The IAB Tech Lab’s LEAN Ads Program is coalescing the entire marketing and media ecosystem around principles that will guide the next phases of technical standards and user experience so we can delight consumers while building productive businesses.

Twenty fifteen was also a year of firsts for IAB and our industry, including:

• IAB Podcast Upfront Showcase—a successful one-day marketplace that previewed the latest digital audio podcast programming from the biggest names in media
• “What Is an Untrustworthy Supply Chain Costing the U.S. Digital Advertising Industry?”—a rigorous study conducted by EY for IAB that shows how eliminating fraud and flaws in the digital supply chain in the U.S. will enable the digital ad industry to gain $8.2 billion annually
• Mobile Advertising Summit at Mobile World Congress—a full day of programming devoted to mobile advertising and marketing at the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with partners Facebook and Nasdaq
• IAB Programmatic Revenue Report—a much anticipated study that sized U.S. programmatic ad revenues at $10.1 billion in 2014

Even after all these successes, challenges remain. We need to continue to advance technical standards to combat fraud and piracy, support education to ensure a healthy and diverse talent pipeline for our industry, and innovate an ad product portfolio to keep pace with marketer and consumer expectations.

I’m exceptionally proud of everything IAB accomplished in 2015 and grateful to the remarkable IAB team that brought it all to fruition. I am also thankful for the ongoing support from our members and the community that has made these strides possible. By continuing to work together, we can achieve a prosperous 2016 and beyond.

Sincerely,

Randall Rothenberg
President and Chief Executive Officer
Interactive Advertising Bureau

2015 Financial Review

Mirroring the overall health of the industry it serves, the financial state of IAB started and ended the year strong. It is a reflection of the work we do on behalf of our members and the confidence they place in us.

According to unaudited 2015 financial statements and under the fiscal leadership of IAB Executive Vice President and COO Patrick Dolan, IAB finished the year with topline revenue of $28 million, up from the record $23.2 million in 2014 and 10 percent more than budgeted.

Membership dues revenue reached a new high of $13.7 million for 2015, up $2.6 million or 22 percent from 2014, mainly because of a key change to widen the criteria for full voting or General Membership to include companies that “sell, distribute, or optimize digital advertising or marketing programs.” IAB also saw a slight growth in events income, projected to bring in $7.4 million or an increase of 3 percent, largely as a result of the enormously successful IAB Annual Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, in February.

IAB Certification Programs, established just three years ago, totaled $2.2 million in revenue, and 2015 was the program’s best year yet, bringing the three-year total of candidates of certificants and candidates for certification to more than 11,000 men and women. The rapid growth of the certification programs is a validation from our members of how important certifications and training are for a healthy talent pipeline for our industry.

Overall, the newly formed organizations are taking hold and delivering on the revenue projected.

The IAB Tech Lab brought in $500,000 in its first year of operation, developing tools, standards, and best practices that simplify and reduce costs associated with the digital advertising and marketing supply chain. IAB also received $250,000 in donations to the IAB Education Foundation and its iDiverse initiative in 2015, and we are already getting recommitments for 2016 and beyond.

Our video efforts are also showing great progress, and the IAB Video Center of Excellence is projected to see $575,000 in revenue in 2015. Within that, IAB also saw $607,000 in revenue from the increasingly popular NewFronts. The IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence is projected to see $1.3 million in revenue in 2015, which is a positive sign for the relevance and success of our mobile efforts.

Additional ongoing revenue streams include initiatives such as sponsored research, member services, the spiders and bots list, international licensing fees, and other fundraising programs.

In the last two quarters of 2015, IAB invested revenues received in helping member businesses excel. Funding was directed toward producing valuable third-party research for building brands in digital as well as investing in the IAB Video Center of Excellence, the newly announced IAB Data Center of Excellence, the IAB Technology Laboratory (IAB Tech Lab), the IAB Education Foundation, Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS), and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).

Finally, IAB managed expenses closely in 2015, which totaled $26.8 million. IAB closed the year with a surplus of $1.2 million and $7.5 million in the bank.

With our members’ support, IAB is well-positioned financially to deliver on its ambitious agenda for 2016 and beyond.

IAB Tech Lab

Technical Standards for Rapid Implementation

The IAB Technology Lab (IAB Tech Lab) is a nonprofit research and development consortium charged with producing and helping companies implement global industry technical standards and solutions for their businesses. It was formed to be a global body with members from around the world and across the industry—publishers, ad technology companies, agencies, marketers, and any organization that understands the importance of global standards. The goal of the consortium is to produce, implement, and reduce the costs associated with the digital advertising and marketing supply chain while contributing to the safe growth of the industry.

The IAB Tech Lab spearheads the development of innovative and scalable technical standards, creates and maintains a code library to assist in rapid, cost-effective implementation of IAB standards, and establishes test platforms for companies to evaluate the compatibility of their technology solutions with IAB standards, which for almost 20 years have been the foundation for interoperability and profitable growth in the digital advertising supply chain. The IAB Tech Lab has also been a central strategic capability for cross-industry initiatives, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).

IAB Tech Lab Board of Directors

A Global Resource for Technology Leaders

Under the leadership of Scott Cunningham, Senior Vice President, Technology and Ad Operations, and General Manager of the IAB Tech Lab, the organization has advanced IAB and its members across a number of dimensions, and the work output from this group has been prodigious.

In 2015, the IAB Tech Lab produced a full suite of tools and solutions:

• Openrtb Dynamic Native Advertising Addendum
• MRAID/VPAID Video Addendum
• IAB Digital Video In-Stream Metric Definitions
• IAB Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines
• 2015 Advertising Creative Guidelines for Display & Mobile—updated for HTML5
• IAB HTML5 for Digital Advertising v2.0: Guidance for Ad Designers and Creative Technologists
• Four validator tools including HTML5 Ad Format Validator
• Tools and best practices for reducing risk of traffic fraud (in support of TAG)

The LEAN Ads Program

It’s not an understatement to say that ad blocking exploded as a dominant issue for our industry in 2015. The rise of ad blocking poses a threat to the internet and could potentially drive users to an enclosed platform world dominated by a few companies.
As an organization, IAB is strongly opposed to ad blocking. We believe in an ad-supported internet. Depriving the internet of advertising dollars will reduce the diversity of voices in digital media. The industry needs to commit to the cause of ever-improving user experiences. The fine equilibrium of content, commerce, and technology must be reestablished on the open web.

Under the stewardship of IAB Tech Lab General Manager Scott Cunningham and his team, IAB hosted a summit where vendors highlighted their available options for dealing with lost inventory, seated a working group on the issue, and developed open source code for detection of ad blocking.

In “Getting LEAN with Digital Ad UX,” Cunningham laid out the industry’s responsibilities for solving the ad blocking problems it is facing, and outlined the LEAN Ads Principles:

L Light
E Encrypted
A Ad-choice supported
N Non-invasive

Supported by the Executive Committee of the IAB Tech Lab Board, IAB licensees around the world, and hundreds of member companies, these principles will help guide the next phase of advertising technical standards for the global digital advertising supply chain.

The IAB Tech Lab hosted a series of international town halls in New York, San Francisco, and London around ad blocking to obtain feedback and guidance for its LEAN Ads Program. These principles resonated with the professional community and captured the attention of the press. Thanks to excellent engagement of thought leaders in the IAB Board of Directors, the IAB Tech Lab, and other leadership groups, IAB is well-positioned to lead the ongoing conversation on this critical issue for the industry. The IAB Tech Lab will continue to provide publishers with tools that help them have a dialogue with users about their choices so that content providers can generate revenue while creating value.

Guidelines and Specification

The IAB Tech Lab supported the rapid execution of the Digital Audio Ad Serving Template (DAAST) and Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) projects, including reference code, materials, and events. The IAB Tech Lab’s commitment to becoming a hub for hosting testing utilities, from mobile SDKs to HTML5 Validator, generated positive responses, and the Tech Lab has continued investing in this area.

After clearing public comment, the OpenRTB 2.3 specification and OpenRTB Dynamic Native Ads API Specification V.1 were released in January and February 2015, respectively. Members of the OpenRTB Working Group—consisting of 44 companies—contributed to the OpenRTB 2.3 specification, while a subset of 15 companies with a focus on native advertising contributed to the addendum. A significant portion of the OpenRTB text has been reviewed and updated for clarity, reducing the potential for incompatible implementations, and the specifications together provide support for native ads in OpenRTB. The Dynamic Native Ads API Specification describes the technical means for programmatically transacting on the native ad types defined by the IAB Native Advertising Playbook, providing a new and better revenue stream for app developers, an increased supply of premium mobile native inventory, the acceleration of scale within mobile native, and an overall improved user experience.

Accelerating HTML5 Adoption

Ad experiences must be as natural and meaningful as the content consumers expect and enjoy in the digital realm. One major accomplishment of the IAB Tech Lab in 2015 was updating the IAB creative display guidelines to spur the adoption of HTML5. This followed extensive testing for performance and time-to-display as well as exhaustive working group consideration for guidelines unique to HTML5 ad creatives.

Key changes recommended include defining HTML5-specific guidelines for number of requests to server, shared libraries, video display, and animation for both desktop and mobile display ads. To support the transition, the HTML5 guide for ad designers was revised and was released in September for public comment, and the HTML5 Ad Validator 1.0 tool, to be used for ad creative packages for hard guidelines, is in beta release. A long-term roadmap for HTML5 Ad Validator has also been defined.

Security and Best Practices

As the industry sees a growing demand for all web pages to be delivered securely over HTTPS to prevent fraud and the proliferation of malware, IAB believes all participants in the advertising supply chain must support HTTPS. The IAB Tech Lab publicly announced its support of this point of view in a series of editorials and workshops.

TAG: Building Trust and Accountability

The Trustworthy Accountability Group successfully launched in 2015 as a first-of-its-kind cross-industry accountability program to create transparency in the business relationships and transactions that undergird the digital ad industry, while continuing to enable innovation. A joint marketing-media industry program, TAG was created with a focus on four core areas: eliminating fraudulent digital advertising traffic, combating malware, fighting ad-supported internet piracy to promote brand integrity, and promoting brand safety through greater transparency. TAG was created by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and IAB, the group works collaboratively with companies throughout the digital ad supply chain.

In March, TAG announced its inaugural board of directors, which includes 24 executives from the world’s largest brand advertisers, online media companies, ad agencies, and advertising technology companies. The board held its first meeting in May and empowered TAG to redouble efforts to fight the criminal activity that is undermining the trust in the digital supply chain. TAG also launched its Leadership Council, a governance body comprising 20 leading companies that will help guide the organization’s strategy and implementation priorities.

In 2015 under CEO Mike Zaneis, TAG developed and released two major anti-fraud tools: the Fraud Threat List and the Data Center IP List. Now in pilot programs to finalize their widespread implementation, these tools will form the foundation for an industrywide anti-fraud program that will more effectively identify nonhuman traffic and remove it from the legitimate supply chain. Soon TAG will formally launch its Registration and Payment ID system, which will bring greater transparency to the digital supply chain and keep money from flowing to criminal entities.

Digital Video Center of Excellence

Harnessing Sight, Sound and Motion

Digital video advertising reached $2 billion in the first half of 2015, a 35 percent year-over-year jump from the first half of 2014, and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. In response to digital video’s skyrocketing growth, last year IAB launched the Digital Video Center of Excellence, devoted to promoting the development of the digital video medium within the marketing, advertising, and media ecosystem. Focused on tying together various IAB video activities, including Advanced TV, Digital Video, and the Digital Content NewFronts, the goal is to provide a one-stop shop for thought leadership, innovation, research, and guidance for the burgeoning digital video industry. While continuing to supervise the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, Anna Bager also serves as the General Manager for the IAB Video Center.

Measurement and Standards for Cross-Platform Success

In March the board of directors for the Digital Video Center of Excellence convened for an inaugural meeting. Themes and needs that surfaced included measurement standards, creative format standards that will ease cross-channel and cross-platform media buying, and creative innovation that will better leverage the unique capabilities of digital video to engage users and drive advertiser ROI. The board also endorsed the creation of a Digital Video Buyers Advisory Board. This new group will provide insights and recommendations to help propel digital video—mobile, over-the-top, and all other platforms—as a dynamic medium for creativity in programming and marketing. Its counsel is expected to impact initiatives that will range across technology, content, measurement, consumer insights, and other areas such as the NewFronts industry event.

Global View: State of the Digital Video World

In cooperation with the global IAB network, the Digital Video Center of Excellence produced a report titled “State of the Digital Video World,” which captures country-specific digital video ad revenues; wireless and broadband availabilities; inherent opportunities and challenges; and the perceived importance of formats, platforms, and monetization strategies. It establishes that both mobile and programmatic play a vital role in digital video advertising around the world. The global video anthology tapped into the expertise of 19 IABs and other related organizations around the globe to identify opportunities and challenges and to examine how perceptions of video vary across countries and regions.

Advanced TV and the Future of Digital Video

The Digital Video Center of Excellence also published the “Advanced TV Industry Primer,” which provides a framework for both buyers and sellers and defines what Advanced TV is. In September, IAB followed-up with a research piece titled “Advanced TV: Ad Buyer Perceptions Study,” which revealed that a majority of advertisers already use some form of advanced TV—including addressable and interactive TV—in their marketing efforts and that 70 percent of advertisers expect to spend more on advanced TV within the next 12 months. Reflecting the increasing importance of advanced TV, the existing Advanced TV Advisory Board has evolved into a full-fledged IAB committee.

IAB Education Foundation

Promoting Education, Diversity and Development

A healthy industry needs a talent pipeline that reflects the audience it serves. IAB has taken important ste ps toward this goal by launching the IAB Education Foundation and championing efforts dedicated to increasing racial, ethnic, gender, and economic diversity; improving skills in the digital media and advertising industries; and expanding certification programs in sales, data solutions, and ad operations. The foundation operates under the leadership of Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL and Foundation Board Chairman, and Michael Theodore, Senior Vice President of Learning and Development, IAB, and General Manager of the Education Foundation.

IAB Education Foundation

In 2015, the Education Foundation completed a series of Voices United diversity workshops and listening tours, with programs in New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Tim Armstrong and Freada Kapor Klein, Ph.D., Founder of the Level Playing Field Institute and Co-Chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact, led the day’s conversation that spotlighted the lack of diversity in digital media and technology. A large cross-section of publishers, ad tech companies, and agencies actively participated to discuss diversity and workforce issues and what cross-industry collaboration can achieve. Participants included representatives from AdRoll, Adtech, AppNexus, Black Entertainment Television (BET), Bloomberg L.P., BrightRoll, Comcast, Facebook, Google, Huffington Post, LinkedIn, Microsoft Corp., New York Post, NY Daily News, Pandora, Quantcast, Salesforce, Seeking Alpha, Square Inc., U.S. Department of Labor, Yahoo Inc., Yelp, and more.

The IAB Education Foundation showed it was well-positioned to deliver a customized program that provides trained, tested, and vetted entry-level employees for positions in ad operations, marketing, data analysis, and sales support. In September, the IAB Education Foundation released ”The Diversity Dividend and the Looming Skills Gap in the Interactive Media Industry” a report that encapsulated the learnings from the Voices United multicity listening tour. Also that month, the iDiverse initiative was established with the goal of increasing diversity in the digital media workforce as well as to help reduce the talent gap. Accordingly, Tim Armstrong has called for the iDiverse initiative to fill 10,000 positions over the next 10 years in the industry. The foundation will also offer recruiting, interviewing, and placement services, as well as ongoing training and mentoring.

The IAB Education Foundation released results from an EY Digital Media Skills report that forecasts industry needs in entry-level positions over the next five years. More than 25,000 new jobs are expected by 2020, with the majority likely to be based in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. The report notes the need for new skills and training programs to help maintain the growth of the digital media and advertising industries.

The IAB Education Foundation has two new training partners that will be developing curriculum for entry-level positions. University Now, an accredited online higher education provider based in Oakland, California, and the College of San Mateo are teaming up to develop the first classroom and web-based training program for the digital industry and will be offering several classes leading to a Digital Advertising Certification. In addition, the IAB Education Foundation is partnering with the New Jersey Community College Consortium to establish entry- and mid-level training programs in data management.

IAB Certification and Learning

The IAB Certification Program posted its best year ever in 2015. In Q3 2015 alone, more than 1,000 candidates applied for the Sales, Ad Operations, and Data Solutions certification examinations. That brings the three-year total of participants in the programs to more than 11,000 professionals.

One of the most important milestones of the year was when the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recognized the program’s rigorous adherence to operational and ethical standards by awarding accreditation to the Digital Media Sales Certification and the Digital Ad Operations Certification programs—a first for any professional certification program in the digital advertising industry. Only about 10 percent of all U.S. certification programs earn this prestigious achievement.

The ongoing success of IAB learning and certification programs is a validation of how important training is for the industry as a whole to extend the talent pipeline. In May, IAB launched the IAB Digital Data Solutions Certification Program, which aims to ensure that digital sales, operations, and marketing professionals are proficient in data management—a critical area of expertise as the industry increases its reliance on data-driven marketing. Open to all members of the digital advertising ecosystem—marketers, agencies, publishers, and vendors—the data certification will provide another validation of the knowledge and expertise needed to make interactive advertising more efficient. In 2016, a new certification program for digital agency buyers and planners is expected to launch.

Professional Development

IAB launched two new major professional development initiatives this year. The Digital Leadership Program, a three-day intensive training program that focuses on mid-level professionals and the knowledge necessary to be successful digital managers, sold out its debut, with candidates from Time Warner Cable Media, Bloomberg, Twitter, and Time. The IAB Online Learning Program, launched in partnership with Bisk Education a nationally recognized e-learning provider, offers specially designed professional development programs to IAB members and nonmembers alike. The first offering was the IAB Sales Certification Prep Course with Fundamentals of Digital Advertising expected to launch in early 2016, followed by courses on Ad Operations and Programmatic Selling.

Making Measurement Make Sense

Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) has been on an evolutionary path that is truly a revolutionary media measurement ambition. It is about much more than viewability, and all the talk about that one aspect obscures an important fact: The initiative is about defining metrics to make cross-media planning, buying, and evaluating comparable so that brand dollars can flow to digital media. Viewability paves the way for the work that needs to be done.

Moving the Agenda Forward

IAB began the year with a clearly formulated set of principles for viewable transactions in 2015, a year of transition. At the end of 2015, the consensus was that viewability is settling into a marketplace norm and moving the industry closer to the true goal of 3MS: currency based on viewable, human impressions, in-target for audience characteristics. All media should be allocated and valued using common metrics, empowering marketers to create breakthrough cross-screen branding campaigns based on educated decisions and accountable investments. Progress in the 3MS initiative, a multiyear investment, moves the industry closer to this goal.

At the end of 2015, the MRC convened the 3MS Blue Ribbon Task Force along with leaders from the ANA, IAB, and 4A’s to review progress on 3MS, reconfirm the long-term vision of the redefinition of measurement in digital, and provide high-level guidance on next steps.

Viewability

In 2015, there was substantial progress in terms of implementation of viewability. Under the leadership of Senior Vice President Sherrill Mane, publisher-centric messaging and practical training on viewability overtook the hype that dominated earlier in the year. With the assistance of the MRC and 3MS partners, the ANA and the 4A’s, IAB has focused on four key areas:

Education and Communication

As part of the IAB 3MS Educational Forums, a series on the whys and hows of viewability implementation, IAB hosted the release of the findings of the MRC data reconciliation study in July, analyzing viewability measurement results for advertising campaigns. The session featured MRC CEO and Executive Director George Ivie, whose presentation covered data and implications as well as the timeline for vendor improvements. In addition, IAB released a statement supporting the work of the MRC and used it as an opportunity to communicate a message about the importance of rapid improvement of viewability measurement. The letter highlighted MRC substantiation of the IAB assertion that 100 percent viewability was not yet feasible.

At the request of the 3MS leadership team, the 4A’s hosted a measurement town hall meeting in September. The session covered viewability and emphasized the distinction between fraud and viewability. It also addressed the work being done to improve measurement through the identification and filtration of invalid traffic from impression counting. The IAB Board of Directors Subcommittee on Viewability, renamed the IAB Board of Directors Subcommittee on Revenue Strategy in 2015, has also discussed how to communicate to the market the progress that has been made and where there are still hurdles. In addition, in October, the 3MS Educational Forum did a deep dive on a successful case study of viewability implementation by PGA Tour Digital.

Viewability is now currency, and with MRC oversight, measurement vendors are now improving their processes so outputs between vendors will be more closely aligned.

Defining Viewability for Mobile

Moving forward with the development and writing of a standard for mobile viewable impressions is critically important to Making Measurement Make Sense, as mobile usage and ad revenue climb. In addition, the MRC found that the biggest source of variance across vendor viewable impression measurement at a campaign level was the combining of desktop and mobile viewable impression counts in one line item.

In May, the MRC issued “Interim Guidance on Mobile Viewable Impression Measurement.” The document was created at the request of IAB and answers key recurring questions about mobile viewability measurement. It posits that, in all likelihood, the viewability standard for mobile web and in-app display and video ads will be the same as for desktop. However, the MRC does note that the industry work and research on the standard is still ahead of us. The mobile viewable impression measurement guideline is slated for completion in early 2016.

Public Policy and Advocacy

Throughout the year, IAB worked actively with our reelected congressional champions and established direct connections with new members of Congress under the leadership of Mike Zaneis, former Executive Vice President, Public Policy and General Counsel, IAB. After nine years, Zaneis left IAB in August to helm the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG). He leaves the IAB public policy efforts in good hands: In December, IAB appointed Dave Grimaldi as the trade organization’s new Executive Vice President of Public Policy and head of its Washington, D.C., office. Grimaldi was previously the Director of Public Affairs for Pandora and will spearhead the IAB advocacy efforts in support of consumer privacy, data security, supply chain safety, advertising taxation, and other major regulatory and legislative issues. He assumes the role in January 2016 and will ensure that IAB members’ voices are represented before Congress, as well as at key agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Washington, D.C.

In 2015, the IAB Political Action Committee actively supported elected officials who have traditionally championed the digital advertising industry. This backing will be of growing importance as the Public Policy Office focuses on several major legislative initiatives.

Ads Alliance Political Action Committee 

Early in 2015, IAB successfully merged its Political Action Committee (PAC) with the joint 4A’s/ANA PAC to form the ADs Alliance Political Action Committee (AD PAC). The AD PAC begins with a major capitalization of over $100,000 and will allow the digital advertising industry to help educate members of Congress.

FDA and Drug Risk Information in Advertising 

IAB sought clearer guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on appropriate ways for pharmaceutical companies to advertise products in space- limited digital advertising formats. In an unprecedented move, the FDA hosted a meeting with its senior officials, where IAB and several member companies presented the benefits to patients when they receive drug information via online advertising. The uncertainty around FDA enforcement over existing restrictions costs the digital media industry hundreds of millions in advertising dollars each year.

Mitigating Tax Risks

The CFO Council continued its work on advertising technology tax risks. More and more members are being targeted by state and local tax authorities in an attempt to classify revenues associated with their advertising exchange services as “software” or “information services” and therefore taxable. The CFO Council invited Richard Leavy, tax attorney at Sidley Austin, to address the council on the matter, and the council continues to lobby on our members’ behalf.

Mobile Center Fly-In

In April, the IAB hosted the fourth annual Washington, D.C., Mobile Center Fly-In. In conjunction, IAB sponsored the State of the Net Wireless conference, with a panel featuring several Mobile Center members talking about the latest in the mobile space. It was widely attended by congressional staff and key industry policy representatives and featured a full day of meetings in both the House and Senate. The group met with congressmen, senators, and key staff working on front-burner issues, including data breach, trade, location, privacy, and tax deductibility legislation.

Small Publisher Fly-In

In June, IAB brought small publishers from 20 states to Capitol Hill for the Seventh Annual IAB Small Publisher Conference and Fly-In. Participants immersed themselves in the hottest topics in digital: viewability, fraud, video, mobile, local, social, and more. The publishers also had an opportunity to meet with legislators about the challenges, concerns, and impact that adverse legislation and regulation may have on their businesses. The Long Tail Alliance now includes over 1,160 members. By convening this meeting, IAB showed policymakers the real difference that these small businesses are making in the national economy and in employment levels.

Beyond the Beltway

The IAB Public Policy Office expanded its national and international agenda as more of the policies affecting the future of the internet and the digital advertising industry originate in state legislative bodies and in foreign and intergovernmental agencies.

Addressing Regulation in the State of California

California still continues to present a serious regulatory threat to the digital advertising industry. Several state bills and public initiatives would severely limit the way the industry is able to collect and use data. In response, IAB invested in the creation of a California office in 2015. Based in San Francisco and staffed by an IAB lead state lobbyist, the office provides the industry with a major advocacy platform.

Expanding the International Agenda

Digital knows no borders and there continue to be a number of regulatory priorities at the international level. The IAB Public Policy Office has coordinated a global policy strategy with our international counterparts to more effectively advocate for the digital advertising industry before foreign governmental agencies. These efforts bore fruit recently when U.S. negotiators were able to finalize language with 11 of their Trans-Pacific trading partners on an agreement to expand the flow of goods (including digital goods and advertising) across international borders. This agreement still faces several legislative hurdles, and IAB will be lobbying Congress for swift approval.

Modernizing International Trade Agreements

IAB is committed to supporting the modernization of international trade agreements to serve the needs of the industry. Current trade agreements fail to adequately protect the digital ecosystem from anticompetitive policies. IAB had been working with the United States Trade Representatives on a new framework to strengthen the Safe Harbor program. In a distressing setback, a European Union court recently invalidated the Safe Harbor Program, which had provided protections for thousands of U.S. companies that transact business in the European Union and pass data across these international boundaries. The decision leaves multinational members in legal limbo. Our efforts on this front are more important than ever as the European court has told companies that they will begin to enforce the data-sharing restrictions as early as February 2016.

IAB Members

We thank all of our members for their support throughout the year. With their leadership and participation, the influence of IAB on the industry will continue to grow. Twenty fifteen marked the first year the IAB General Membership criteria was expanded to include companies that “sell, distribute, or optimize digital advertising or marketing programs.” As a result, a number of previously Associate Member companies are now General Members and eligible to vote for and serve on the IAB Board of Directors, as well as chair IAB committees and councils.

General Members

Associate Members

New General Members

New Associate Members

Tech Lab Members

All IAB U.S. General Members are automatically members of the IAB Tech Lab.

Additional members include:

Who is IAB?

Executive Committee 2015

Board of Directors 2015

Ex Officio