Product listing ads get major update as IAB Tech Lab finalizes new standard
Latest OpenRTB specification changes aim to standardize programmatic buying of product listing ads across commerce platforms.
Yesterday, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab finalized significant updates to the OpenRTB specification that will transform how product listing ads are traded programmatically. According to IAB Tech Lab's official announcement, this extension had been in public comment since December 2024 before its finalization on January 24, 2025.
The new specification introduces critical changes to facilitate standardized programmatic media buying for product listing ads (PLAs), which are endemic advertisements appearing on retail and ecommerce platforms. According to Chris Coupland, Platform Operations Director at Basis Technologies, these updates address a significant gap in the commerce media ecosystem.
The technical modifications center around a new prodfeed object within the bidrequest extension. This object signals that understanding a product feed is essential for successful transactions on the impression. The specification includes detailed information about the feed itself, permitted products and categories, and blocked items.
A key technical distinction of PLAs lies in their creative asset handling. Unlike traditional digital advertisements, where buyers provide finished creative assets, PLA creative assets are furnished and rendered by the publisher's platform. The buyer's role is simplified to providing a product ID that signals which item should be displayed.
The Native Ads API, a complementary protocol to OpenRTB, has received corresponding updates. The protocol now includes a new data type '13' specifically for Product IDs. This addition streamlines the process by which publishers can compile ad assets using their product feed information, including brand names, product descriptions, ratings, and pricing details.
Implementation requirements for the new specification are substantial. According to the technical documentation, buyers must have prior knowledge of any product feed they intend to bid on before entering the auction. The specification recommends that buying systems understand how products are categorized within feeds to support allowed product categories (aprodcat) and blocked product categories (bprodcat).
To maintain efficiency in ad requests, the specification mandates constraints on product IDs and categories. For instance, when users browse category sections of retail websites, the specification suggests limiting allowed product categories (aprodcat) to match the current page context.
The commerce media sector's growth has highlighted the need for these standards. While commerce media leads digital advertising growth, it has operated without many fundamental industry standards that have advanced other sectors of programmatic advertising.
Looking ahead, the IAB Tech Lab's Sub-Working Group focused on Commerce Media use cases will continue refining these standards. Their objective is to provide buyers and sellers with necessary signals for conducting successful programmatic auctions on digital ecommerce properties.
Several technical specifications in the update warrant attention. The prodfeed object includes mandatory attributes such as domain strings identifying product feed owners and arrays for allowed and blocked products. The specification requires that presence of the prodfeed object indicates bid requests can only receive appropriate responses from buyers with product feed understanding.
For implementation, buying platforms must integrate feed domain information and product categorization systems. This enables support for product category filtering while avoiding unnecessary transmission of individual product IDs that already fall within allowed categories.
The update also introduces new requirements for the Native Ads API Response Object. When bidding using a product feed with the Product Feed enumeration of 13, systems may leave the 'link.url' field empty, marking a departure from previous requirements.
These specifications form the foundation for standardizing commerce media transactions, addressing long-standing technical gaps in the programmatic ecosystem for retail and ecommerce platforms.