In today’s fragmented digital video landscape, marketers are plagued with questions such as:
- “What ad played where?”
- “Was the frequency cap respected?”
- “How did the ad perform across screens and platforms?”
- “Did it align with content that was brand safe?”
- “Did we effectively reach our targeted audience?”
As advertisers invest massive budgets into converged TV— with nearly $90 billion projected across linear and CTV by 2028 according to eMarketer — these seemingly simple questions remain difficult to answer due to platform fragmentation, inconsistent creative tracking, and incompatible data systems. Advertisers still struggle to stitch together a clear picture of their campaign performance.
In 2024, IAB Tech Lab, with the help of many industry leaders including FreeWheel, GroupM, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery developed a universal ID framework for digital video creatives called Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF). ACIF adoption enables every ad to be identifiable and trackable across platforms, systems, and devices. Comparable to a digital passport, each ad creative carries a consistent ID through the supply chain — from agency to publisher to measurement vendor —enabling frequency management, reconciliation, brand safety controls, and campaign performance analysis.
According to NBCUniversal analysis of all brand creatives received in 2024, 2/3 of linear creatives used a unique AD-ID, however under 20% of digital ads carried that same identifier. This inconsistency highlights a processing gap that contributes to wasted spend, redundant exposures, and unreliable multi-platform measurement. ACIF bridges this divide by applying the tried-and-true practices of linear creative management to the CTV and digital video ecosystem making it possible to answer the most essential campaign questions.
Today, AD-ID is already integrated and available for implementation. It allows any system to validate a Universal AD-ID in real-time. There is no additional login, API work or cost needed — just clean, efficient validation.
Key registry partners like AD-ID in the U.S., Clearcast in the UK, and ARPP in France have already integrated this API into their systems, helping unify ad validation around the globe. This standardized program both confirms that a creative ID is valid and provides uniform ad metadata (advertiser, brand, language, duration) to enhance campaign automation and creative reconciliation.
ACIF is no longer a concept — it is a live functional infrastructure that works. One of the most telling proof points of ACIF’s operational feasibility resulted from a test including GroupM, NBCUniversal, FreeWheel and VideoAmp.
A Simple Change, a Big Result
GroupM’s ad operations team made one strategic change – ensuring the correct placement of the AD-ID of a CTV buy within their ad-serving template. No extra software. No system overhauls. Just a minor shift in the process.
On the publisher side, NBCUniversal partnered with FreeWheel to ensure their system could surface that ID in its ad logs and push it through NBCU’s data warehouse. From there, the ID was visible in files passed to the measurement provider, VideoAmp.
The outcome? For the first time, NBCUniversal and GroupM could verify a specific ad delivery across both linear and digital using the same creative AD-ID.
This was a full-circle moment — with GroupM’s client already an AD-ID subscriber – there was no special campaign needed, no added spend – just the right field filled in correctly, and a harmonized backend setup. It enabled unified reporting, proving that ACIF can power cross-platform measurement today.
Behind the Scenes—but Game-Changing
This success resulted not from a new or massive marketing campaign, but a simple technical backend enhancement. NBCUniversal worked with GroupM’s ad operations team to make minor adjustments to its reporting pipeline and ID placement that supported the AD-ID’s visibility. FreeWheel then enabled it within their system logs. And in the following weeks, the campaign data flowed end-to-end without error. VideoAmp could then see the same AD-ID in both their linear and CTV reporting, enabling more accurate delivery tracking, frequency insights, and performance analysis.
This test showed the process change works independently and cost is already baked in—a creative ID exists, but they’re often placed incorrectly in the digital shuffle.
Lessons from the Field
- ACIF works with today’s infrastructure. Most platforms support the necessary fields.
- The biggest gap is the current process, not technology. The AD-ID is often there—it’s just in the wrong place.
- Measurement becomes easier and more reliable when the AD-ID flows through consistently.
- Publishers are ready, but more buy-side education is needed to drive adoption.
What’s Next
As both IAB Tech Lab and IAB continue their push for industry-wide adoption, this case study will serve as a north star. While many publishers have the proper technical capabilities ready, more education is needed to allow agencies and brands to make this necessary low lift shift.
Most agencies are already implementing the US registry of AD-IDs in linear and, if the same creative is used for digital, neither ACIF nor AD-ID require new dollars or tools—just new discipline – the same AD-ID is unique to each creative, regardless of linear or digital implementation. This is a decisive first step forward that proves the case to brands on reconciliation, frequency management and cross-channel measurement.
For more information, check the ACIF Playbook here and the ACIF AdOps Guide, here. And, if you are not already working with AD-ID, please reach out to [email protected].
