As we celebrate Earth Day, a momentous occasion dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues and advocating for the protection of our planet, we wanted to take a moment to recognise the collective efforts being made across our industry to achieve sustainability and remind you of the resources that are available to help us all play our part.
To help mark the occasion, we proudly showcase some of the impactful work of our Sustainability Standards Committee, a multi-stakeholder group that aims to share expertise, resources, and guidance to help reduce the emissions produced by digital advertising. Through its collaborative efforts, the committee addresses key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges and aims to integrate sustainability principles into the fabric of our industry.
Here are just a few of the great resources the committee has produced to help educate and encourage the reduction of GHG emissions in digital advertising that you can find in IAB Europe’s Sustainability Hub:
As we commemorate Earth Day, it's inspiring to see so many organisations in our industry taking active steps and meaningful action to support our planet - not just today but every day. We look forward to continuing the great work with our members across the ecosystem and to collectively achieving sustainability in our industry.
To learn more about IAB Europe's sustainability initiatives, the work of the Sustainability Standards Committee, and how you can get involved, visit the Sustainability Hub here or contact the team at communication@iabeurope.eu.
Still thinking about attending IAB Europe's flagship Digital Advertising and Marketing Conference in Milan? With just over a month to go, here are four reasons why you should join us from 21st - 22nd May for Interact 2024.
With a central theme of ‘The Big Questions. The Sharp Answers.’ our agenda will dive deep into, address, and provide answers to our industry’s most pressing questions, including:
Across the two days, our stellar line-up of speakers will share their expertise, live on stage, to answer the industry’s biggest questions. Putting the ‘interactive’ back into Interact they will share their diverse thoughts, leaving you with the answers you need to drive your digital advertising strategy forward.
Hear from the following speakers and more:
Anna Kechekmadze, Global Digital Media Strategy Lead at Sanofi Consumer Healthcare
Alessandra Marinacci, Head of Brand at Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM)
Steve Lockwood, Head of Client Measurement at TikTok
Michelle Perelman, Standards and Partnerships Director at Publicis Media Global
Martin Hoberg, Chief Adtech Officer at RTL Group
Nick Reid, SVP & Managing Director, EMEA at DoubleVerify
With sessions featuring live polls and audience Q&As, there will be plenty of opportunities to join in on the action, share your thoughts, and get your questions answered live. We want to hear from you too.
Interact isn’t just about hearing from European experts. It’s about meeting, getting inspired, and sharing best practices with those in the know. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your network and discuss the sharp answers with industry peers.
Full conference details including the agenda, confirmed list of speakers, and ticket information can be found on the event page here.
Secure your spot at Interact 2024 below and be part of Europe's must-attend digital advertising conference. Register Now
Spring has sprung and we're delighted to share a round-up of some of the great work we have achieved in our wonderful committees so far this year. We also share upcoming committee work and the opportunities available for our National IABs and Corporate members to get involved in.
A huge thank you to everyone involved, for your hard work, support, and continued commitment to sharing your expertise.
If you are a member of IAB Europe and would like to join any of our committees, or are interested in membership, please reach out to the team - communication@iabeurope.eu
Brand Advertising Committee
The main objective of this committee is to help drive investment in Digital Advertising by producing guides, events and best practices on established and emerging channels and formats.
Q1 Highlights include:
Upcoming opportunities include:
If you are interested in finding out more and/or would like to join the Committee please reach out to Helen - mussard@iabeurope.eu
Programmatic Trading Committee
This committee is all about increasing understanding of the programmatic ecosystem and the impact it has on digital advertising.
Q1 Highlights include:
Coming up you can get involved in:
If you are interested in finding out more and/or would like to join the Committee please reach out to Helen - mussard@iabeurope.eu
Retail Media Committee
Our Retail Media Committee has been busy working on a number of initiatives to help educate and advance the Retail Media landscape. The development of Retail Media Standards has been a priority. Following the end of the public comment period, V1 of the Retail Media Measurement Standards will be published next week. The team is also working in collaboration with IAB US on the development of creative ad format standards for Retail Media.
Other Q1 Highlights (all can be found in our Retail Media Hub here alongside many more resources):
What’s coming up:
Retail Media Committee Lead and contact: Marie-Clare - puffett@iabeurope.eu
Sustainability Standards Committee
The committee continues to drive its efforts in educating and helping the industry reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the delivery of digital advertising.
Q1 Highlights (which can also be found on our Sustainability Hub) include:
What’s coming up in Q2:
If you are interested in finding out more and/or would like to join the committee please reach out to Lauren - wakefield@iabeurope.eu
TCF & Privacy
The TCF instances focus on developing and revising the Transparency & Consent Framework in line with the most recent case law, EU-level guidance and national level DPA guidance to provide improved legal certainty to its implementers while preserving flexibility. Below are the main developments relating to TCF since January 2024:
If you are interested in finding out more and/or would like to join the TCF working groups please reach out to Ninon - vagner@iabeurope.eu
Policy Committee
The Policy Committee continues to engage with members on the policy and regulatory landscape, acting as the liaison with policymakers in Q1 2024 regarding various files, including the DSA, the Cookie Pledge initiative, GDPR procedural regulation, and EDPB soft law.
The Q1 Highlights include:
If you are interested in finding out more and/or would like to join the Policy Committee, please contact Ines at talavera@iabeurope.eu
In the context of the EDPB’s upcoming Opinion and subsequent Guidelines on the ‘Consent-or-Pay’ model, a number of statements and reports have crystallised why the debate around the ‘Consent-or-Pay’ model rests on postulates that are factually wrong:
This is misleading, since end-users that choose to consent do not on the same occasion waive their fundamental rights over the processing of their personal data. The GDPR precludes unlawful data processing and provides users with the highest level of protection irrespective of the legal basis of the processing, including consent. This means that users that choose to consent do not as a result allow the online content or service provider to ignore the GDPR, since the GDPR and its principles must be complied with at all times.
The “Consent or Pay” model essentially allows end-users to choose freely between two services that are equivalent in terms of content or service provided: one that is funded at least in part by third parties by way of personalised advertising and another that is funded by the end-user directly. The conditions for “freely given” consent under the GDPR continue to be met, as this equivalence ensures that there is no detriment to consenting, not consenting or withdrawing consent: end-users that do not wish to pay or to allow funding through personalised advertising cannot expect to benefit from the online content or service entirely for free.
In other words, there is no “paying” for data protection rights - data protection rights are guaranteed in any event. Conversely the ability to provide end-users with a service free of charge or at a lower cost, due to that service being (partially or fully) funded by advertising, is precisely a circumstance that guarantees the availability of greater choices for end-users irrespective of their financial means.
First, neither the GDPR nor the ePrivacy directive is intended to interfere or influence the business models chosen by companies or to promote particular business models. This is supported by the established positions issued by the CJEU, local regulators, national courts and appeal bodies that do not opine on the type of business models companies must use.
Second, it must be stressed that contextual advertising is not a realistic alternative for many market players. As referenced in IAB Europe’s letter to the EDPB on the ‘Consent-or-Pay’ model, the fundamental right to data protection cannot negate the freedom to conduct business. Not only does it not create the obligation for businesses to provide their services for free, it does not create either the obligation for businesses to provide their services at a loss.
Contextual advertising can arguably work for eCommerce platforms, search engines, single-topic or ‘niche’ services or services that have the financial muscle to produce lifestyle features or other consumer-focused content that lends itself to such advertising. However, other types of services such as serious news content cannot be assigned to commercially interesting topics and are therefore not adequate for contextual advertising.
At the very least, contextual advertising requires the use of information originating from users’ devices which in most cases makes it subject to Article 5(3) of ePrivacy directive and/or the GDPR. For example, ensuring that the same ad does not get shown too often and too many times to the same user (frequency capping) requires storage of information on the user’s device that is generally not considered as strictly necessary by Data Protection Authorities. This is further attested by the EDPB's strict position in its draft guidelines on Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive suggests that the EDPB would require consent for the mere delivery of contextual advertising.
This means that even on digital content or services that may be well-suited for contextual, the selling of non-personalised ad placements especially in the absence of users’ consent cannot generate comparable revenue to personalised advertising, as evidenced by several studies. In environments where the possibility to personalise advertisement is mechanically blocked (e.g. in the absence of cookies or advertising identifiers), ad placements are sold at a significantly lower price, leading to important revenue losses for digital advertising players:
Notwithstanding the fact that neither the ePrivacy directive nor the GDPR forbid or dictate how companies should determine and structure their business models, a correct understanding of how online advertising works and can be viable is an important prior step in order to protect the ability for businesses to maintain a free (or lower-priced) and ad-funded access option to their online content and services - which would otherwise leave end-users with only paid access options.
On the 21st and 22nd of May, IAB Europe will host our flagship event Interact 2024 in Milan. In partnership with IAB Italy, Interact 2024 promises to deliver an engaging experience with industry leaders gathering to tackle the industry’s most critical challenges and innovative opportunities head-on.
With a central theme of ‘The Big Questions. The Sharp Answers.’ we're putting the interactive back into Interact, with every session revolving around a key question that our expert speakers will answer live on stage. We will tackle everything from Privacy, Policy, and Digital Ad investment to CTV, Retail Media, Sustainability, and more.
Find out more here. Get your tickets here.
In the lead-up to the event, we will be introducing you to some of our great speakers who will take to the stage to answer our industry’s biggest questions of today.
We are pleased to introduce:
Alessandra Marinacci, Head of Brand at Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM)
Q. Firstly, thank you for joining us at Interact 2024. Apart from your session, what excites you most about Interact this year?
“The smart and sharp answers to some of the industry’s biggest questions of course!
I’m thrilled to be part of such a conference, connecting with leaders across Europe with different backgrounds and discussing common challenges. I’m curious to explore the latest trends in digital advertising and exchange insights on how they're shaping the industry's future.”
Q. Can you tell us more about your role and your main priorities for this year?
“I oversee the brand strategy & management for TIM Group. This entails not only defining and implementing policies and guidelines to maintain a consistent and engaging brand experience across all platforms and initiatives but also heading the development of brand design and experiences. I lead also the creation of advertising campaigns to reinforce our brand positioning. Last but not least I'm in charge of the brand heritage, which includes managing one of Europe's largest archives!
Our main challenge this year is to drive meaningful brand growth and resonance in the market, promoting responsible leadership. We have been working to enhance the perception of TIM as a trailblazer in innovation but also a force for good, that can accelerate the transition towards gender equality, which we believe is a fundamental requirement for the growth of our country, to which our group has been dedicated for over 100 years.”
Q. You will join the session that asks ‘What do buyers really want from digital advertising?’ Any initial thoughts you’d like to share on this question?
“Brands are looking for more than just visibility today, especially for established ones it is more about fostering deeper connections with the audience driving tangible business outcomes. Digital advertising is a key opportunity in fact to reinforce our brand identity and values, ensuring that every interaction with our audience reinforces trust.”
Q. What do you think is driving digital growth in Europe this year?
“I believe digital growth in Europe is being propelled by a combination of factors. Rapid post-pandemic digital adoption across industries is leading the game, driven by the imperative for businesses to adapt to rapidly evolving consumer behaviors and expectations, but it is also fueled by advancements in technology: particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics that are unlocking new possibilities for growth. Organisations are also harnessing the power of data-driven insights to personalise customer interactions, optimise marketing campaigns, and drive predictive analytics-driven decision-making which makes digital advertising the one that companies like the most.”
Hear from industry-leading speakers including Alessandra Marinacci and more at Interact 2024 and get the sharp answers you’re looking for.
Get your tickets here.
IAB Europe is soliciting candidacies for a new, senior position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) to enable the Association’s growing team to develop and leverage new opportunities across the full range of its policy- and non-policy-related work.
Description
The COO will ensure operational efficiency, transparency, and accountability across all of IAB Europe’s work-streams and instances. He/she will own process development for annual planning and accountability, HR, finance, rhythm of the business of the Board, ExCo, and Industry Leadership Council, as well as oversight of the process for member retention and recruitment. He/she will build a strong team with the CEO to ensure the organisation’s structure, operations, and business processes support and enable the delivery of a broad and diverse agenda of member- and industry-facing services and that there is good alignment at all times with the Association’s strategic priorities. The COO will report to the CEO but work in partnership with the CEO to enable IAB Europe to identify and realise new opportunities to deliver value to members and the industry.
Key responsibilities
Requirements
Compensation
The role is Brussels-based; compensation would be competitive, with annual bonus based on achievement of team and individual KPIs.
Contact
Please send CV and expression of interest to jobs@iabeurope.eu, mentioning “COO role” in the email header.
Sponsored Product Ads are a fundamental part of the Retail Media advertising ecosystem. They can be described as keyword-or product-targeted ads that promote individual listings and appear in shopping results and product detail pages on the retailer's site.
In the following blog, experts from IAB Europe’s Retail Media Committee dive into what good Sponsored Product Ads look like, how they can be bought and measured and how they can support the full-funnel marketing mix.
A big thank you to the following contributors for sharing their thoughts:
Maria Kristalinskaya, Head of Retail Media at Kleinanzeigen at Adevinta
Nesma Abdel-Hamid, Team Lead Digital Activation at Douglas
Lena Schütze, Team Lead Client Services & Consulting at Douglas
Mark James, Senior Director EMEA at Flywheel
Kına Demirel, Chair of the IAB Turkey Retail Media Group and Managing Director at Mimeda
Nico Batista, Director, Expert Services at Skai
Q. What makes a great Sponsored Product Ad (SPA)?
Nico:
"We can define a great sponsored product ad as the right amount and type of ingredients and flavours combined together in harmony. It must be granular, to allow for one-to-one optimisations, around keywords, targets, categories, audiences (where possible), and individual products. But a great sponsored product ad must also be scalable so it doesn’t become inefficient. When building the perfect sponsored product ad, it’s key to look at individual relevancy and performance between products and targets, as well as placement modifiers that are adjusted based on individual performance as opposed to a group of products that are broadly similar. Finally, the ad should be optimised against product, category, brand, and organisational objectives - not simply ROAS."
Kına:
"For best results, they should be designed in a way that best suits the consumer experience. When the right keywords related to the product are targeted, this can positively impact the user experience and makes the ad a part of the shopping journey. In addition, having a formula of 2 of the first 5 products on the product listing page as sponsored product ads could increase the effectiveness of the ad and help the user to be naturally involved in the shopping journey."
Lena:
"The success of a Sponsored Product Ad depends on the relevance - ensuring that the ad aligns closely with the target audience’s interests and needs. Therefore specific tools can be leveraged to improve the relevance of a sponsored product, such as SKU set-up and targeting optimisation."
Mark:
"Sponsored product ads are opportunities to put your product in front of the eyes of a consumer very close to the point of purchase with the help of a clear indicator of intent; the search term. If the ad, and product in the ad, is highly relevant to that search term, the consumer benefits from seeing a product that is likely to be what they are looking for, and the retailer benefits from satisfying the consumer’s demand efficiently.
The other piece that is critical is the product listing itself. The listing needs to give an accurate account of what is being sold in a way that a consumer can clearly tell them if it is what they are looking for."
Maria:
"Great sponsored products ads are the ones that offer the right balance between user need and advertiser’s pain (irrelevant traffic, high bids, etc.). Making the ads personal and relevant with the targeting and optimisation options offered by the retail media network as well as providing relevant product description and further information (pictures, titles, etc.) increase the engagement and leads to the better results for the campaign."
Q. What type of campaigns are sponsored product ads suitable for and how can they support the full-funnel approach?
Lena:
"First and foremost, Sponsored Product Ads are considered as lower-funnel campaigns as they are placed at the digital shelf and reach customers when they are already browsing on the retailers category pages. However, although SPAs directly impact the sales and conversions of a brand, SPAs also help to keep the brand top of mind and influence a purchase decision (moving up the funnel)."
Nico:
"Most campaigns should be supported by sponsored products to some degree. With today’s digital shelf as competitive as it is, spending brand-marketing budgets on upper-funnel activities without maximising share of voice at the purchase level would be extremely inefficient, not to mention a considerable waste of money. Sponsored product ads are naturally suited to drive highly profitable, bottom-of-the-funnel sales, but can also provide support to omnichannel full-funnel strategies."
Kına:
"Sponsored product ads are usually considered for sales-focused campaigns. However, it supports the full-funnel from Consideration to Purchase therefore they are a great choice when it comes to gaining high visibility."
Mark:
"We observe the highest conversion rates when sponsored product ads are run alongside mid/upper funnel tactics such as sponsored display or programmatic. The mid/upper funnel campaigns are there to create demand, the bottom of funnel campaigns (eg. sponsored products) are there to assist the conversion."
Maria:
"Sponsored product ads catch the user at the stage when they already decided they need a product X and help them make the final decision. Therefore, it’s definitely the way to go to boost conversions and increase sales. With extensive targeting options and variety of placements offered by different networks, we also see that sponsored ads help to increase brand awareness and raise the brand recognition metrics. The extra effect is achieved especially if they’re running alongside other top-funnel formats."
Q. What metrics should brands consider when evaluating sponsored product ads?
Lena:
"As SPAs are lower funnel campaigns focused on driving sales, the key metrics for this campaign type are ROAS, conversions and CVR. Depending on the brand maturity and equity, it also makes sense to consider CPC and CTR as key metrics to evaluate how an audience engages with the products and how efficient the campaign is. Additionally, the share of voice and share of clicks can provide insights into the brand’s visibility, effectiveness and competitiveness within a specific category."
Nico:
"This will depend on the capabilities of the publisher. In most platforms, you will be able to measure against ROAS, CVR, CPCs, and total revenue. However, in the more sophisticated platforms, you can evaluate performance against keyword impression share or ad placement data. For budgeting and forecasting, missed revenue and recommended budget are great metrics to support internal investment discussions. Other valuable metrics are assisted and same SKU campaign sales where buyers can see which SKUs are actually being purchased regardless of standard PPC sale attribution."
Kına:
"Brands should primarily pay attention to conversion rates and ROAS when evaluating sponsored product ads. In addition, click-through rates of ads and their associated cost per click are also important for cost analysis. It is also becoming a common practice where platforms are providing a set of relevant keywords for brands to target for . Another metric that relatively becomes popular is also the new customer generated through sponsored product ads."
Mark:
"Alongside the typical performance metrics such as ROAS, CTR, CVR, brands should pay attention to total sales performance for their products, by also taking into account organic sales to ensure they are not cannibalising sales that would have happened without assistance. Brands should also look at their margins after taking into account advertising costs and COGS. They should also not consider a single purchase in isolation, but the life-time value of customers they acquire through sponsored product ads - for example, is your ROAS low on the first purchase, but they go on to buy your products repeatedly and convert on cheaper search terms (such as branded terms) when they purchase for a second time? If so, the low initial ROAS might make sense. And finally, brands should pay attention to their market share so that they consider their performance trends in relation to the wider market in which they are competing."
Maria:
"My colleagues mentioned a lot of performance metrics that are absolutely must-to check when you’re running sponsored product ads campaigns. If your tracking system allows, I would also recommend checking more long-term metrics like CAC and LTV to check the long-term effect of the campaigns (mostly applicable for non-endemic customers and click-out model). Some of our customers also check the % of new users we drive to their pages to see the difference you get with each new channel."
Q. How can buyers access sponsored product ads?
Nico:
"Most key players in 2024 either already have or are developing their own proprietary retail media network, or they have a technology partner that allows them to serve ads on their online store. To begin advertising in your retailers of choice, the first step is bringing it up in conversations with your commercial point of contact at that retailer."
Kına:
"The initial contact should be between brands and retailers' sales teams or retail media companies for sponsored product ads. More and more retailers are either using or creating their own retail media technologies where brands can access inventory for sponsored product ads, set up campaigns, and manage budgets using self-service interfaces developed by retail media networks with their own digital teams."
Maria:
"Working directly with retailers gives you a lot of advantages like early access to the new product features, dedicated account management team with optimisation expertise,etc. All together you get an opportunity to extensively target the target audience of this platform especially if you look for specific very niche segments. But also you need to plan dedicated resources within your team to manage these campaigns and minimal budgets are usually quite strict. Working with technology providers or dedicated agencies, you get access to more players and more thorough allocation of your budget. My recommendation will be to check what you’re looking for and combine both dependending on the retailers you’re looking for to work with."
Q. How can brands evaluate sponsored product ads across retail media networks?
Mark:
"This is generally difficult for brands to evaluate since each retail media network lives in isolation from one another and they have their own ways of measuring and sharing data with brands. The first task at hand is therefore to bring all their retail media data into a single source of truth such as an omni-channel retail media platform. This will allow them to view product level performance across all retail media networks and make it easier to evaluate success. However, the very best way to evaluate sponsored ad performance across retail media networks is to bring media, retail sales and market share data across retailers into a single place. This enables brands to track multiple metrics across multiple retails in one place and allow them to make decisions on where to invest in a retailer-agnostic way."
Nico:
"Different attribution models, windows, metrics, optimization capabilities, and more makes it difficult to compare apples to apples within the retail media space. My suggestion would be to try and set up attribution windows to match your business goals equally across retailers and choose basic performance metrics that are widely available in the channel (i.e. ROAS, CVR, CPA). But while the industry awaits standardisation, brands can leverage tech partners and solutions that integrate all retailers in one place and that allow buyers to make quick cross-retailer budgeting and optimisation decisions with all the relevant information easily accessible in front of them."
Kına:
"Brands generally use the analytical tools provided by retail media networks to evaluate the performance of sponsored product ads. These tools are used to measure the interactions, conversions, and return on investment of ads. By analysing this data, brands can optimise their advertising strategies and run more effective campaigns. When comparing platforms, it is important to consider factors such as inventory size, audience reach, ad formats, analytics and reporting, cost and return on ad spend (ROAS), targeting options, user experience, technical support, and communication. These factors may vary according to the needs and goals of brands, and the preferred platform will depend on specific campaign objectives and strategies."
Find out more
IAB Europe’s Retail Media Committee is at the forefront of the retail media industry. Members are driving retail media growth and shaping the landscape by:
Find out more and get involved by contacting Marie-Clare Puffett - puffett [@] iabeurope.eu
IAB Europe has submitted its annual report for the Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoP).
The report from IAB Europe highlights the Association's dedication to combating disinformation, stressing the vital need for the digital ecosystem to provide reliable information to foster confidence and improve overall digital health. Access to truthful information is pivotal for instilling trust in the digital space, benefiting users and the ecosystem alike.
Since its inception, IAB Europe has recognised the multifaceted challenges of tackling disinformation and its significance for the overall health of the digital landscape. As original signatories of the Code in 2018, both the Association and some of its members have been steadfast advocates for promoting reliable information dissemination and fostering collaboration within the digital ecosystem.
Following the signing of the 2022 CoP, IAB Europe has actively participated in the post-signing activities of the Taskforce Group. The Association's involvement in crucial subgroups such as Ad Scrutiny, Monitoring and Reporting, and Outreach and Integration reflects its dedication to representing the viewpoints of the digital advertising ecosystem.
On October 24, 2023, IAB Europe organised a pivotal event titled ‘IAB Europe’s European Elections: Rights and Risks in the Digital Public Space.’ This event provided a platform for stakeholders to delve into the complexities of the digital public space, with a particular focus on disinformation and media literacy. Distinguished panellists, including representatives from Maldita.es, GroupM, and the EEAS, engaged in insightful discussions on combatting disinformation and supporting quality media.
Within its annual report, IAB Europe reaffirms its commitment to educating the industry on the significance of the Code of Practice and its commitments. The Association continues to advocate for actions that uphold the integrity of digital information and ensure accessibility to accurate viewpoints for all citizens.
For further details on the annual report and IAB Europe's initiatives, you can access the reporting information in the Transparency Centre here and IAB Europe’s report here.
26th March 2024, Brussels, Belgium - Today, IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, has published the first-ever Mapping of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Estimation Solutions in Digital Advertising. The mapping presents the range of emissions models currently available and provides an understanding of how they may differ and why they may arrive at varying estimates.
GHG emissions associated with the internet, devices, and supporting systems are thought to constitute nearly 4% of global emissions. With an industry-wide mandate to reduce this footprint, the first step is for companies within the digital advertising ecosystem to estimate their own emission contributions, so that they can demonstrate the true environmental cost of each digital advertising campaign to their partners. Yet, with so many tools and solutions coming to the market and no standards in place at the moment, it is extremely difficult for stakeholders to know where to start when looking to estimate, understand, and reduce the impact of their digital advertising efforts.
This comprehensive report provides a transparent view of the wide variety of frameworks and solutions developed and adopted in Europe to estimate and reduce the scope 3 emissions produced by digital advertising. Each solution was examined through the prism of the features and attributes that IAB Europe member companies find to be most relevant and likely to inform decision-making. It helps stakeholders from across the ecosystem to understand how current options may differ when it comes to data, supply chain boundaries, and the methods used to model scope 3 emission sources and tailor their strategies to meet sustainability objectives.
Participating organisations in the report include SRI/Alliance Digitale, GroupM, Dentsu, DIMPACT AdGreen, Scope3, Good-Loop, IMPACT+, Cedara, DK and SeenThis. The in-depth information on each framework or solution was collected from each participating organisation across a four-month period and provides additional context for each as relevant to the nine categories that represent the different aspects of GHG estimation solutions.
Commenting on the release of the report, Arthur Millet, Chair of IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee, said, "There is a great deal of momentum in Europe around measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from digital advertising. The major media groups and trade associations are heavily involved, as are the many companies that have been set up to meet this challenge. There is a need for a better understanding of the methodologies and data used to measure the carbon impact of digital advertising. To this end, common methodological approaches are gradually being put in place at national and now global level. Our approach with the IAB Europe is helping to bring greater transparency and genuine cooperation between players to harmonise methodologies and data."
Key insights from the report include:
Dimitris Beis, IAB Europe’s Data Analyst & Sustainability Manager, who compiled the report, also commented, “It is clear from the report that more work is required to move the industry toward a more sustainable mode of operations. As these solutions are developed further, it is crucial to understand their accuracy, how they can be improved, and how we can use them to drive consistent estimation (of environmental impact). In the meantime, industry professionals should contribute to the transition progress by selecting solutions thoughtfully with the help of this report. They should also encourage greater collaboration through industry initiatives, such as IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee, and engage in advocacy within their organisations.”
“At IAB Europe, we will continue to analyse the solutions available in the market and provide updates through future iterations of this report. We will further address the challenges identified in this analysis, continue to share recommendations to help reduce GHG emissions, and support an industry-wide move towards a standardised framework to accelerate progress.”
The IAB Europe Mapping of Greenhouse Gas Estimation Solutions in Digital Advertising can be viewed here
On 7th March, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a ruling in IAB Europe v APD. In light of the complexity of the case and the risk of confusion about the implications of the ruling, we have laid out below the Court’s findings and what they actually mean.
Above all, nothing in the ruling puts into question the validity of the TCF or prohibits its use by the digital ecosystem to comply with the EU data protection framework.
The ruling concerned IAB Europe, not the TCF
The ruling was about IAB Europe and its role, as a standard-setting organisation, in the TCF. Specifically, the CJEU had been asked whether IAB Europe acts as a data controller, and if so, of what data processing.
The Court’s answer was that IAB Europe does indeed act as a data controller, but its controllership is narrowly defined. IAB Europe acts as a joint controller for the processing of “TC Strings”, the digital signal capturing information about choices users make about data processing when they interact with a TCF CMP UI, which the Court finds to be personal data.
Contrary to the APD’s assumption, IAB Europe does not act as a controller for the subsequent processing of all personal data processed for the TCF Purposes (digital advertising, content personalisation, etc.).
Changes to the TCF will be limited and can be effected quickly
The fact of the TC String being designated as personal data confirms one of the APD’s findings in their February 2022 Decision. As a result, the corresponding changes to the TCF in order to accommodate it have already been proposed as part of the action plan submitted to and validated by the APD last year.
Although these limited iterations have been put on hold pending the answers from the CJEU, they have been approved by the APD and can be effected quickly.
The appeal procedure is still ongoing, but meaningful changes to the TCF have already been made
The referral to the European Court was an important step in IAB Europe’s ongoing appeal of the APD’s February 2022 decision. The Belgian court of appeal will now resume its deliberations on the merits - which can take several months. This does not mean that the TCF is standing still: since the beginning of the appeal procedure, the TCF instances have consistently continued to bring new and meaningful iterations to the Framework in line with regulators’ expectations, such as the roll-out of TCF v2.2 last year. Yesterday’s ruling merely provides the direction to continue expanding the compliance functionality of the TCF.
IAB Europe will continue to keep the market updated on the case and the further development of the Framework.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 7 March 2024: IAB Europe acknowledges the ruling handed down today by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in connection with IAB Europe’s appeal of the February 2022 decision by the Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD) against IAB Europe and the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF). This followed the Belgian Market Court’s interim judgement of September 2022 which referred questions to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling and held that the APD decision was insufficiently substantiated and failed to meet the relevant standard for proper investigation and fact-finding.
IAB Europe welcomes the CJEU ruling that provides well-needed clarity over the concepts of personal data and (joint) controllership, which will allow a serene completion of the remaining legal proceedings.
In particular, the judgement of the Court establishes that:
(i) TC Strings (digital signals containing user preferences) constitute personal data, even from the perspective of IAB Europe, when they can be linked with reasonable means to an identifier such as for instance the IP address of the device of the user and IAB Europe can have access to such data;
(ii) IAB Europe can be viewed as a joint controller together with TCF participants in relation to the creation and use of TC Strings by publishers and vendors, on the basis that the TCF provides specifications for its processing, if IAB Europe actually influences the processing (purposes and means) for its own reasons.
(iii) IAB Europe should not necessarily be viewed as a joint controller together with TCF participants in relation to the subsequent data processing performed in pursuit of the TCF purposes, such as digital advertising, audience measurement, or content personalisation since IAB Europe has no influence on such processing. The CJEU conclusion on the latter is particularly important, as the APD’s erroneous controllership qualification of IAB Europe over such processing served as a basis for the authority’s assessments of the validity of legal bases established through the TCF and corresponding sanctions.
The Belgian Market Court will now resume its examination of IAB Europe’s substantive arguments in line with the answers provided by the CJEU. Pending the conclusion of the proceedings before the Market Court which can take several months, the suspension of the execution of the APD decision (i.e. the implementation of IAB Europe’s action plan following its validation) continues to apply.
IAB Europe will be posting a more in-depth commentary of the ruling and of its consequences shortly. Although it was adopted specifically in the context of the TCF-related dispute before the APD, the findings of the CJEU are important for all organisations with digital activities.
An updated FAQ regarding the APD decision can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
Press contact:
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe - mussard@iabeurope.eu – +44 (0) 7399 919594
About IAB Europe:
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment, demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business partners that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand advertising to scale in Europe.
Dimitris Beis, Data Analyst & Sustainability Manager at IAB Europe shares key insights to help stakeholders in the digital advertising ecosystem better understand the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
As companies look to address the environmental impact of their business activity, ambitious yet feasible emissions reduction targets are necessary. For businesses (inside and outside of the digital advertising ecosystem) reduction targets serve multiple goals; they act as benchmarks for sustainability strategies and action plans, allow firms to be held accountable to their environmental objectives, and signal a company’s commitment to decreasing its footprint. In the absence of guidelines, however, setting such reduction targets can be a difficult task to undertake. What sources of emissions must be included? What level of reduction should firms aim for? What period should reduction plans be based on, and how often should progress be checked? Having a common reference point to answer these questions is paramount. Thankfully, businesses can refer to the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard, a framework created to guide them in becoming net-zero organisations.
To help businesses in the digital advertising industry kick-start their reduction journey, we’ve outlined some key information on how the SBTi Standard works, how reduction targets can be set, and the specific challenges of the SBTi target adoption to the digital advertising industry below.
We have also released a complimentary podcast episode here, where we dive into the intricate world of carbon emissions in digital advertising further with Benjamin Davy, Sustainability Director at Teads.
How does the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard work?
The framework set out by SBTi lays a path for firms to achieve net-zero, otherwise understood as the state in which a business has a (on balance) non-negative contribution to environmental degradation and climate change. As a reminder, corporate emissions are categorised into three scopes, defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:
The SBTi Standard declares that organisations achieve net-zero by:
Simply put, the definition of net-zero put forward by SBTi is based on scientific estimates of how much global emissions have to be reduced for the average global temperature to rise by a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. The SBTi also defines separate reduction targets for sectors such as shipping and power generation that are significantly more carbon-intensive. Firms that operate in all other sectors may follow the generic, cross-sectoral pathway to net- zero. An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) pathway exists in the SBTi framework, which focuses on data centres, and fixed and mobile network operators. The ICT-specific pathway also features a formula to calculate a reduction target for emissions resulting from data centre operations. There is currently no SBTi pathway specifically designed for marketing and advertising activity.
How does a company set a reduction target under the Corporate Net-Zero Standard?
Under the SBTi framework, companies set two targets: a long-term target that expresses the total level of emissions reduction required in each sector, and a short-term target of a 5-10-year horizon that describes the reduction path they will take. Once their short-term target date is reached, a new short-term target is calculated. In summary, short-term targets are milestones to ensure accountability and progress towards the long-term goal of net-zero emissions.
1. Setting organisational boundaries & developing an emissions inventory
The first step to establishing SBTi targets is developing a complete greenhouse gas inventory in compliance with the GHG Protocol, which includes 95% of scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as a complete scope 3 inventory. When setting organisational boundaries, companies must select one of the following consolidation approaches for this inventory:
A. Equity Share - emissions from an operation are accounted for by a firm according to its share of equity in the operation.
B. Financial Control - all emissions that the firm has financial control over are accounted for.
C. Operational Control - all emissions that the firm has operational control over are accounted for.
Scope 3 inventories used for SBTi submissions must be developed per the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard and GHG Protocol Scope 3 Calculation Guidance. These documents contain criteria for determining which upstream and downstream activities should be accounted for. The Scope 3 Standard also provides a list of activities that must always be included in a company’s emissions inventory for science-based targets submission. These are referred to as mandatory scope 3 emissions.
Two-thirds of mandatory scope 3 emissions must be included in the short-term target if scope 3 emissions represent more than 40% of a company’s total emissions, and 90% must be included in the long-term target regardless. By making this distinction, the SBTi Standard provides some leeway to companies facing scope 3 assessment challenges.
Regarding scope 1 and 2 emissions, 95% must be covered by both near-term and long-term reduction targets.
2. Setting targets
Companies can then set short- and long-term targets relative to a base year they define. The company’s emission profile from the base year must be representative of its current environmental performance and allow for ambition in terms of improvement. Subsidiaries may set their own targets, but must also be included in the parent company’s SBTi submission using the selected consolidation method.
Unless a company’s SBTi submission is based on sector-specific targets, near-term targets are calculated based on a reduction rate of 4.2% per year, and long-term targets are fixed at an overall reduction of 90%. These are absolute emissions targets, referring to the total of a company’s emissions rather than the GHG intensity of its activity. For scope 2 emissions, targets may be substituted by an 80% and 100% renewable energy procurement target by 2025 and 2030 respectively. Renewable energy certificates (RECs) and virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) are accepted here.
Scope 3 targets may be defined separately either in terms of physical intensity, using a self-defined metric (e.g. CO₂e per kb), or economic intensity, using CO₂e per unit of value added. These must be reduced by at least 7% year-on-year and 97% overall. Another option for near-term scope 3 targets is to set supplier and customer engagement targets, which aim for SBTi target establishment across a firm’s value chain.
What are a company’s commitments under the SBTi?
The SBTi framework allows businesses to set credible, verifiable targets that are informed by the current scientific understanding of the effect of global economic activity on climate change. Companies that wish to set emissions reduction targets using the Corporate Net-Zero standard must embark on an extensive process to develop verified emissions inventories and targets. The SBTi publishes a record of all targets set under the framework and checks for compliance with the Standard’s requirements on a rolling basis. As such, the organisation can ensure that firms with active targets are working to carry out their commitments - by issuing annual emissions reports, for example. Companies that are found to be non-compliant risk being removed from the SBTi database.
SBTi targets are a long-term commitment for companies; besides pledging that it will achieve net-zero before 2050, a company with SBTi targets also commits to issue short-term targets and report progress perpetually until net-zero is achieved.
What are the challenges relative to SBTi target adoption in digital advertising?
According to IAB Europe’s latest State of Readiness Report, only 18% of firms have set environmental reduction targets, through SBTi or otherwise, with a further 15% of respondents claiming they are in the process of establishing targets. The digital advertising ecosystem, spanning from advertisers to publishers, has certain unique challenges to address relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory development and reduction target-setting:
Designing an emissions reduction strategy can be challenging, but it’s important that businesses make a start by setting targets. To help businesses in the digital advertising ecosystem take action, our Sustainability Standards Committee brings industry stakeholders together to create and share best practices and develop standards that help reduce the amount of energy consumed and emissions produced by digital advertising.
Committee participation is open to all members of IAB Europe and key resources produced by the committee can be explored in our Sustainability Hub here.
For more information on the committee and how you can get involved, please reach out to Lauren Wakefield - wakefield@iabeurope.eu or Dimitris Beis - beis@iabeurope.eu.
