Observed Signal · Apr 21, 2026 · Governance Council Formation · Source: AdExchanger · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
IAB Tech Lab Forms Programmatic Governance Council
IAB Tech Lab announced the creation of a Programmatic Governance Council (PGC), a multilateral forum of buyers, sellers, ad tech companies and platforms aimed at improving transparency and efficiency across the roughly $200 billion programmatic market. The council is co‑chaired on the buy side by OMD’s chief media officer Ben Hovaness and was co‑chartered with Tech Lab CEO Tony Katsur. Founding members include major agencies and platform players such as Omnicom, WPP, Dentsu, Disney, Amazon Ads, The Trade Desk, Magnite, PubMatic, Hearst, News Corp, Yahoo, Raptive and Mediavine. The PGC first convened in December, has met multiple times, plans to meet twice monthly, and expects to produce initial recommendations within 90–120 days, prioritizing reductions in bid duplication and QPS bloat and clarifying rules around transaction IDs and auction transparency.
Creates a multilateral governance forum with major industry players to tackle programmatic waste and transparency; could yield practical efficiency gains but is not an immediate platform or regulatory change.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- IAB Tech Lab announced a new Programmatic Governance Council (PGC) to address transparency and efficiency in programmatic advertising.
- The council is co‑chaired by Ben Hovaness (OMD chief media officer); Hovaness co‑authored the charter with Tech Lab CEO Tony Katsur.
- Founding PGC members include Omnicom, WPP, Dentsu, Disney, Amazon Ads, The Trade Desk, Magnite, PubMatic, Hearst, News Corp, Yahoo, Raptive and Mediavine.
- PGC first convened in December, has met four times, plans to meet twice a month going forward, and aims to publish initial recommendations within 90–120 days.
- Initial priorities include reducing bid duplication and QPS bloat and clarifying practices around transaction IDs to cut programmatic waste.
Connected Companies & Entities
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
IAB‑Backed Council Formed to Tackle Programmatic Issues
A newly formed standards organization, the Programmatic Governance Council, is convening industry participants to reduce infighting and create shared solutions for persistent programmatic problems. Led by OMD Worldwide Chief Media Officer Ben Hovaness, the council’s early agenda focuses on addressing bid duplication (including transaction IDs and multi-bidding behaviour), improving incrementality measurement, and responsible ID bridging. Hovaness estimates bid duplication costs the programmatic ecosystem about $5 billion annually. The group also discussed the operational impact of agentic AI on programmatic workflows, with Hovaness suggesting AI will change processes around buying rather than replace programmatic addressability. The article is an AdExchanger podcast write-up by Sarah Sluis summarizing those discussions.
IAB Tech Lab Proposes Programmatic Rules
IAB Tech Lab has released for public comment its Programmatic Standard Practices v1, a set of shared business rules, norms, and principles for using existing programmatic advertising standards. The proposal aims to reduce transaction friction, improve transparency, and establish consistent governance across the programmatic ecosystem. It is the first deliverable from the Programmatic Governance Council, which addresses business and governance issues in programmatic advertising. The practices focus on how companies should use existing technical standards, not introducing new ones. Public comment is open until October 16. This initiative seeks to clarify expectations between buyers and sellers and strengthen trust among the numerous intermediaries in the ecosystem.
New MRC Standards Demand Transparency in Ad Auctions
The Media Rating Council (MRC) published new standards and a voluntary certification to increase transparency around digital ad auction mechanics. The framework requires platforms to disclose auction rules and key decision variables (for example whether auctions are first-price, second-price or modified second-price), and to report changes to auction logic. The standards push for wider adoption of updated OpenRTB fields (including video.plcmt), universal transaction IDs (TIDs), Global Placement IDs (GPIDs) in bid requests, and a multi-bid submission requirement for DSPs. The initiative was driven by Omnicom/OMD and formed with a steering team in 2024, garnering support from nearly 70 companies including Meta, TikTok, X, The Trade Desk and Hearst. Participation and accreditation are voluntary; Google, Amazon and Prebid did not directly participate in drafting the standards.
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