Increased Functionality in Programmatic Order Management Specification to Drive Increased Marketplace Adoption
NEW YORK – The IAB Technology Laboratory released OpenDirect 2.0, an update that will expand functionality within this vital transactional specification for premium automated guaranteed buying and selling. This specification completes the OpenMedia specification stack by facilitating non-real-time bidding transactions. Available for public comment through March 12, 2018, the revised spec will boost the capabilities of the standard protocol by enabling cross-platform order management and allowing publishers to make guaranteed inventory available to a wide set of agencies and advertisers globally.
“OpenDirect 2.0 is primed for accelerated adoption”
Updates to OpenDirect include support for:
- Publishers and buyers to negotiate prices
- Buyers to discover new deal opportunities to purchase publishers’ inventory
- Expanded media channels (including the use of AdCOM, the new Advertising Common Object Model, which will permit video and out-of-home media support)
Adoption of OpenDirect 2.0 will also open the door to improved order management across platforms, providing early availability reporting and potentially reducing discrepancies down the road. While OpenDirect does not directly enable improved impression counting between parties, it does lay the foundation for opportunities to upgrade impression reporting between systems.
“Automated buying and selling of premium advertising has become an essential part of the digital economy, and the technology that supports it needs to develop and evolve in lock-step,” said Dennis Buchheim, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “This update to OpenDirect will allow for more fluid movement of premium inventory, while greatly reducing the overhead involved when integrating with partners—making OpenDirect 2.0 invaluable and prompting greater use of the spec worldwide.”
“OpenDirect 2.0 is primed for accelerated adoption,” Robyn Parker, CIO, Adslot and Co-Chair of the OpenDirect Working Group. “Direct buys are a mainstay revenue stream for a great many publishers and are increasingly looking to automation to streamline the process with both agencies and brands. OpenDirect 2.0 is a critical upgrade to stakeholders on both sides of the fence.”
After public comment concludes, the IAB Tech Lab OpenDirect Working Group will evaluate and incorporate the feedback received, and release a final version.
To review the proposed update to OpenDirect, please visit iabtechlab.com/opendirect. Questions and comments can be sent to openmedia@iabtechlab.com.
About 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.
