How Advertisers Can Leverage TCF on Their Own Digital Properties

The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) is widely recognised as a standard for publishers that sell ads - but it is equally relevant for advertisers operating their own websites and apps. As advertisers increasingly rely on audience and campaign measurement tools and first-party data strategies, TCF provides a structured way to establish legal bases, ensure transparency, and communicate user choices to third-party partners.

Selecting the Right Purposes

The TCF includes a taxonomy of 11 purposes, and advertisers are free to choose which one they want to use.

Advertisers, while implementing the TCF, should:

• Select the purposes that reflect actual data use (e.g. measurement, content personalisation);
• Exclude irrelevant advertising delivery purposes if they don’t apply;
• Use “stacks” where appropriate to simplify the user interface. 

A tailored approach ensures clarity for users and avoids unnecessary complexity in your Consent Management Platform (CMP).

Choosing the Right Vendors

Advertisers should only display vendors they work with in their CMP.

A curated vendor list avoids requesting consent for irrelevant partners and simplifies privacy choices for end-users.

The TCF additional vendor list might be useful to use the flexibility that TCF provides to determine the selection and align it with your operations.

Configuring Vendor-Specific Requirements

TCF allows advertisers to go beyond a standard setup by:

• Restricting specific purposes for certain vendors;
• Defining when consent must be the legal basis. 

This level of control ensures that your CMP configuration reflects both your legal requirements and your business model. Please see here the technical specifications on Github to find out more on the possible restrictions. 

Managing First-Party Data

Advertisers can leverage the Publisher TC segment to manage their own data processing activities.

This enables you to:

• Record user choices for first-party use cases;
• Define custom purposes not covered by standard TCF taxonomy;
• Share consent signals with vendors acting as processors. 

This is particularly valuable for scenarios such as personalised marketing communications or integrations with non-TCF vendors.

Dedicated Implementation Guidelines 

TCF provides advertisers with a powerful framework to manage users’ transparency and consent. By selecting relevant purposes, curating their list of vendors, and leveraging features like the Publisher TC segment, advertisers can build a user-friendly consent experience.

To help advertisers implement the TCF, IAB Europe has created advertiser-specific implementation guidelines. Advertisers are encouraged to consult these resources when implementing TCF on their digital properties to ensure alignment with industry standards and best practices. 

For any questions about how to implement the TCF as an advertiser, please reach out to tcf.compliance [at] iabeurope.eu.

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Join our webinar on 19 May at 13:00 CET to discover how the Transparency and Consent Framework can benefit not just publishers, but also advertisers and retailers. Click here to find out more and register below to secure your space.