NEW YORK—In a notable industry-wide effort to tackle the problem of fragmented and inconsistent campaign data, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its Campaign Data Standards 1.0 for public comment.
This is the first release out of Project Eidos, IAB’s broader initiative to modernize and streamline key elements of the digital advertising ecosystem. The comment period is open until June 14.
The proposed standards introduce a consistent, interoperable framework for structuring campaign data, addressing long-standing inefficiencies that limit the industry’s ability to measure, compare, and optimize performance at scale.
“Campaign data is an important element of modern advertising, but too often it’s fragmented and inconsistent across platforms, partners, and systems,” said Angelina Eng, vice president, measurement center, IAB. “Different naming conventions, misaligned classifications, and siloed datasets make it hard to reconcile data, slowing down reporting and pulling focus away from analysis and optimization. These standards are about creating a common language so the industry can move faster, reduce friction, and get to more meaningful insights.”
The IAB reported that the proposed standards provide:
- Standardized classifications for placements, formats, and media types
- Consistent required data fields to support measurement and reporting
- Greater alignment across platforms and partners to reduce reconciliation efforts
The IAB stressed that the framework is not a new platform, nor does it replace proprietary systems or mandate specific measurement approaches. Instead, it is designed to be flexible and interoperable, enabling adoption across existing workflows and technologies.
In announcing the release, the IAB also provided statements from agencies, publishers, brands, and media organizations that are already expressing support for the proposed standards and the role they can play in improving how campaign data is used across the ecosystem.
Those statements included:
- “The challenge is not collecting more data, it is making data consistent, usable, and actionable,” said Prabhpreet Sidhu, senior vice president of analytics, Publicis Commerce. “A shared campaign taxonomy can reduce the time teams spend on cleanup and reconciliation, allowing them to focus more on insights, optimization, and growth.”
- “Marketers face mounting pressure to justify results and allocate spend wisely, a challenge that becomes far more manageable when the underlying data is sound,” said Wendy Emerson, SVP Marketing Science, Butler/Till.
- “Every campaign ends up with its own version of the truth, and teams spend too much time trying to reconcile it,” said Rachel Mervis, Director Programmatic, Quigley-Simpson. “If this gives us a cleaner starting point with access to more data, that’s time we get back to actually improving performance.”
- “Project Eidos represents an important step forward for the industry, bringing greater transparency and trust while enabling advertisers and agencies to seamlessly connect planning, activation, and measurement in a way that truly reflects how media drives business outcomes across the marketing funnel." said Leah van Zelm, SVP Data Science Measurement & Insights, NBCU Advertising Products & Solutions. "When the ecosystem is aligned on a common structure, it becomes much easier to clearly demonstrate the value our inventory delivers and to have more straightforward, comparable conversations about media effectiveness across channels. This is exactly what’s needed for the next era of media effectiveness.”
- “A taxonomy standard of this nature is long overdue in our industry,” said Christy Loftus, SVP, Data Logistics, Canvas Worldwide. "Our teams are pulling data from so many different places just to understand what’s going on. This will bring more consistency without forcing a whole new system.”
The release of Campaign Data Standards 1.0 directly supports IAB’s mission to drive growth, trust, and innovation across the digital advertising ecosystem by advancing transparency, measurement, and ultimately marketing effectiveness, the group said.
Consistent and structured data is becoming increasingly important for approaches like attribution, incrementality, and media mix modeling. Without it, even the most advanced tools struggle to produce reliable, actionable insights.
IAB is inviting stakeholders across the ad tech ecosystem to review the proposed standards and provide feedback during the public comment period. Input is encouraged on real-world implementation, usability, gaps in classification, and alignment with existing systems. The public comment period will remain open through June 14, 2026, with a final version of the standards expected to be released by Q4 2026.
To review the Campaign Data Standards 1.0 and submit feedback, click here.
