Global Digital Media Industry Standards Body Appoints Former Google & Condé Nast Executive to Top Position
NEW YORK – The IAB Technology Laboratory announced the promotion of Alanna Gombert to the position of General Manager of the global digital media industry standards body. Gombert, a former senior executive at Google and at Condé Nast, succeeds Scott Cunningham, who founded the Tech Lab in 2014 as a cross-industry organization that produces scalable, innovative technology standards, and solutions for the global digital media and marketing ecosystem.
Gombert also was named Senior Vice President for Technology and Ad Operations at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). She will assume her new roles on July 1, 2016.
“In only two years, the IAB Tech Lab has established itself as the digital media and advertising industry’s central organization for the development of standards to assure the industry’s supply chain is safe, efficient, and effective for consumers and businesses alike,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “I am confident Alanna, with her background in technology companies, publishers, and ad agencies, and the Tech Lab team will be able to continue to build on the global technical advancements and creative solutions Scott helped inaugurate.”
Under Cunningham’s leadership, the IAB Tech Lab has attracted digital technology leaders from around the world to its membership, board of directors, and an in-house team that now numbers 12 engineers. It’s at the forefront of developing principles and technology to combat ad blocking. It created digital video standards and established creative guidance to encourage adoption of HTML5. In addition, it released a first-of-its-kind app to ease the time-consuming constraints of testing mobile ad creative against multiple SDKs.
“The technical and operational foundation of digital marketing is at a crossroads – balancing the demands of brand advertisers, media agencies, publishers, and consumers,” said Gombert. “The IAB Tech Lab and IAB have the opportunity and responsibility to move the industry toward global solutions that meet the needs of those constituencies. In 2015, U.S. internet ad revenues toppled previous figures, reaching nearly $60 billion, and if we can coalesce around meaningful technical standards worldwide, we can anticipate even more dollars flowing to the medium in the years to come.”
Alanna Gombert joined the IAB Tech Lab and IAB in February as Deputy Manager of the Tech Lab, and Vice President, Technology and Ad Operations for IAB. Since then, Gombert bolstered the engineering strength of the Tech Lab through talent acquisition and has been integral in the development of the industry response to ad blocking, playing a significant role in the creation of the DEAL method for successfully convincing ad block users to whitelist publishers’ sites. In addition she broadened the organization’s global impact by formulating the Tech Lab’s first European working group session, centered on open direct buying and selling, planned for July and produced in partnership with IAB UK.
Before joining IAB, Gombert ran a full-service digital media consulting agency headquartered in New York City. Prior to that, she was at Omnicom as Managing Director of Digital Investment, creating and running the company’s programmatic supply platform and inventory portfolio services. Previously, as Head of Digital Sales and Strategy at Condé Nast, she founded CatalystDesk, the publisher’s digital media trading platform. While there, Gombert brought the media brand to the forefront of programmatic with executions such as live streaming fashion shows and more.
Earlier in her career, Gombert worked for Google by way of Admeld, where she ran the trading desk, and agency and demand-side platform relationships, helping to grow RTB from an idea to a thriving business. Before joining Admeld, Gombert worked at Right Media, the first online advertising exchange, where she focused on ad selection algorithms and market dynamics. Yahoo acquired Right Media in 2007. Other work includes stints with Nielsen, DoubleClick, and JPMorgan Chase.
About the IAB Technology Laboratory
The IAB Technology Laboratory is an independent, international, nonprofit research and development consortium charged with producing and helping companies implement global industry technical standards. Comprised of digital publishers and ad technology firms, as well as marketers, agencies, and other companies with interests in the interactive marketing arena, the IAB Tech Lab’s goal is to reduce friction associated with the digital advertising and marketing supply chain, while contributing to the safe and secure growth of the industry. The organization’s founding member companies include AppNexus, Google, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, PubMatic, Tremor Video, Yahoo, and Yahoo! JAPAN. Established in 2014, the IAB Tech Lab is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.
About IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. It is comprised of more than 650 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising or marketing campaigns. Together, they account for 86 percent of online advertising in the United States. Working with its member companies, the IAB develops technical standards and best practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. The organization is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the IAB advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City and has a West Coast office in San Francisco.
