Like many of us, you’ve probably made your share of New Year’s resolutions: hit the gym more, eat healthier, finally organize that closet. But as we turn the page to 2026, there’s one resolution that should be at the top of every digital advertising product leader’s list: checking that the IAB Tech Lab Standards you rely on are the latest and greatest!
Why? Because digital advertising is moving fast. Standards set the baseline.
The advertising ecosystem is accelerating at a dizzying pace. Connected TV is exploding with innovative ad formats. Privacy regulations evolve globally. And now, agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping how programmatic transactions work in real time. Standing still isn’t an option—but neither is trying to navigate this complexity alone. That’s precisely why Tech Lab standards exist: to give the entire ecosystem a common language, proven frameworks, and battle-tested solutions that let you innovate confidently while maintaining interoperability.
As we enter 2026, here are the essential Tech Lab standard resolutions that will position your organization for success in the year ahead.
Resolution #1: Implement OM SDK for CTV with Device Attestation
If transparency and trust in measurement aren’t already top priorities, they should be. Open Measurement SDK has become the gold standard for verified impression measurement across mobile and web video—and now it’s expanding its reach across the CTV landscape.
The latest release brings Device Attestation to OM SDK, across Samsung, LG, AndroidTV and tvOS. For publishers, this means a single OM SDK implementation can replace custom integrations with each verification provider For buyers this provides consistency and dependability of measurement signals across the entire CTV ecosystem. Our client-side solution delivers signals to determine last activity with the device, notice if the screen is off, and if the device is what it claims to be.
Device Attestation is what makes this release truly essential for 2026. This new capability directly addresses one of CTV’s most persistent challenges—device spoofing. Using the Privacy Pass protocol adapted for digital advertising, Device Attestation enables apps and players to prove that impressions are being rendered on authentic devices, without compromising user privacy. For advertisers worried about fraud, and publishers wanting to command premium rates, this is table stakes.
Publishers — resolve to integrate OM SDK across your CTV properties this year. Advertisers, resolve to ask your partners about measurement via OM SDK. You’ll all sleep better knowing your impressions are what they claim to be.
Resolution #2: Prepare for New CTV Ad Formats with the CTV Ad Portfolio
Remember the “Wild West” of web display advertising fifteen years ago? CTV ad formats have been experiencing their own frontier moment, with over 100 different implementations floating around the ecosystem. Advertisers were building distinct versions of similar formats for different platforms. Publishers were struggling to scale innovative experiences. Everyone was losing efficiency.
Enter the newly released CTV Ad Portfolio. After an extensive industry initiative, Tech Lab has standardized six core CTV ad formats that create incremental revenue opportunities beyond traditional ad pods: Pause, Menu, Screensaver, In-Scene, Squeezebacks, and Overlays..
This standardization means advertisers can build creative once and deploy it across multiple CTV platforms. It means publishers can implement these formats with confidence that they’ll work seamlessly with major buying platforms. And it means everyone can stop reinventing the wheel and start scaling the innovative ad experiences that viewers actually engage with.
Make 2026 the year you embrace standardized CTV ad formats. Review the CTV Ad Portfolio, understand which formats make sense for your content and audience, and get ready to trade them programmatically. The formats like Pause and Menu ads are already showing strong performance—now it’s time to do them at scale.
Resolution #3: Get Your Privacy House in Order
If 2024 and 2025 taught us anything, it’s that privacy isn’t getting easier. Global regulations continue to evolve, consumer expectations are rising, and the compliance burden keeps growing. But here’s the good news: Tech Lab has built a comprehensive portfolio of privacy standards that work together to help you manage this complexity.
Start with the Global Privacy Protocol (GPP), which provides a unified framework for managing privacy signals across different jurisdictions. Whether you’re dealing with GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, or emerging regulations in other markets, GPP gives you a single technical implementation that scales.
Add the Data Deletion Request Framework (DDRF) to handle consumer data deletion requests systematically across your ecosystem. Implement the Privacy Taxonomy to classify and manage how data is being used throughout your systems. And consider using the Accountability Platform to demonstrate your commitment to privacy compliance through independent verification.
These aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re essential infrastructure for operating in today’s privacy-conscious environment. Resolve to audit your privacy standards implementation in Q1, identify gaps, and bring your organization into full compliance. Your legal team, your users, and your business partners will all benefit.
Resolution #4: Lay Your Agentic Foundation with ARTF
Here’s where things get really interesting. The Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF) represents one of the most significant advances in programmatic advertising since OpenRTB itself.
The challenge ARTF solves is fundamental: today’s RTB auctions involve hundreds of milliseconds of latency as bid requests travel between SSPs, DSPs, data vendors, and verification partners—often across different cloud environments. That latency is a major constraint on how much enrichment, analysis, and optimization can happen in real time.
ARTF introduces a containerized architecture that enables technologies to operate within the same data center, server, or even virtual machine. By bringing these systems physically closer together, ARTF can reduce bid request-response time by up to 80%. That extra time unlocks entirely new possibilities for bid enrichment, real-time decisioning, and—critically—agentic AI workflows.
As we move into an era where AI agents will make autonomous decisions about media buying and selling, ARTF provides the technical foundation that makes it possible. It supports emerging frameworks like Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) communication, while maintaining the security, permissioning, and interoperability the ecosystem requires.
You don’t need to implement agentic AI immediately to benefit from ARTF. Start by understanding the framework and how containerization could improve your existing RTB infrastructure. Experiment with the specification (it’s open source on GitHub). And most importantly, prepare your organization for a future where autonomous agents will be normal participants in every auction.
Find out what else Tech Lab is doing with Agentic Advertising in our webinar launching the Agentic roadmap on Jan 28, 2026!
The Common Thread: Standards Enable Speed
Every resolution on this list shares a common theme: standards accelerate innovation. When everyone speaks the same technical language, you can move faster. When proven frameworks exist, you don’t waste time reinventing solutions to problems the industry has collectively solved. When interoperability is built in, your integrations work the first time instead of requiring months of custom development.
Digital advertising in 2026 will be faster, more complex, and more opportunity-rich than ever before. CTV will continue its explosive growth. Privacy requirements will keep evolving. AI agents will become increasingly prevalent in programmatic transactions. The publishers, platforms, and advertisers who thrive will be those who build on solid technical foundations rather than trying to construct everything from scratch.
IAB Tech Lab standards are those foundations. They’re developed collaboratively by the industry’s technical leaders, tested in production environments, and designed to solve real problems that companies face every day. They’re not theoretical exercises—they’re practical tools that make your technology stack more efficient, more trustworthy, and more future-proof.
So as you’re writing your personal resolutions for 2026—yes, we should probably all try to eat healthier —add these professional resolutions to the list: Review your OM SDK implementation. Study the CTV Ad Portfolio. Audit your privacy standards. Understand ARTF and its implications for your infrastructure.
The digital advertising ecosystem is moving fast. Resolve to keep up by building on standards that the entire industry trusts. Your 2026 self will thank you for it.
Publisher Bonus Resolutions: Bring your LLM Contacts to CoMP and Review Trusted Server
If you’re a publisher, you have two additional resolutions that could meaningfully impact your 2026 revenue.
First, the Content Monetization Protocols (CoMP) initiative is gaining serious momentum. As Large Language Models increasingly serve as interfaces for information discovery, publishers need to ensure their content is accessible and fairly compensated in these new environments. Bring your LLM partnership contacts to the CoMP discussion table. The industry is building standards for how AI agents interact with publisher content—you want a seat at that table.
Second, take a hard look at Trusted Server. This solution helps publishers maximize revenue from their inventory by providing a trusted environment for executing ad decisioning and measurement logic. If you’re leaving money on the table due to fragmented integrations or privacy constraints that limit data sharing, Trusted Server might be your answer. Review your current server-side configuration and evaluate whether Trusted Server could unlock additional value from your existing traffic.
Barnaby Edwards
Sr Director, Product Marketing
IAB Tech Lab