The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a crucial industry guide emphasising the need to adopt new standards for measuring advertising effectiveness on connected TV (CTV). Titled “The Role of CAPI in Closing the Outcome Gap for CTV,” the guide advocates for the integration of Conversion APIs (CAPI) to enhance the ability of advertisers to assess their ad performance on CTV platforms.
CAPI serves as a “digital bridge” that facilitates server-to-server data sharing, allowing advertisers to understand which ads drive viewer engagement and subsequent actions. Unlike traditional methodologies that rely on browser cookies or personal tracking, CAPIs provide a secure method for advertisers and platforms to connect data discreetly, enhancing the precision of performance measurement.
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The IAB guide is designed for brands, agencies, publishers, and ad tech partners, focusing on how CAPIs can standardise measurement practices, promote privacy-safe data collaboration, and improve performance outcomes in CTV.
David Cohen, CEO of IAB, remarked, “Advertisers have consistently indicated that outcomes matter. This report serves as a call to action. Without standardisation and implementation of CAPI, CTV platforms will struggle to achieve their full potential and could lose significant advertising budgets to measurable channels.”
Based on extensive industry research, the guide outlines a clear approach to adopting standardised CAPI practices to align CTV advertising with the accountability and performance measurement that advertisers expect from other channels.
While CTV ranks among the fastest-growing channels in advertising, measuring its effectiveness remains a challenge. According to the IAB, the inconsistent implementation of CAPI in CTV stems from fragmentation, limited identifiers, and technical hurdles. However, if properly implemented, CAPI can facilitate secure, server-to-server data sharing, link ad exposure to viewer actions, and enable intelligent campaign optimisation. Standardising this process across CTV can:
- Create parity between CTV and established performance channels
- Increase advertiser confidence through accurate, privacy-friendly measurement
- Enable cross-channel optimisation and quicker feedback loops
- Foster industry-wide cooperation regarding data interoperability
Jamie Finstein, Vice President of Media Centre at IAB, stated, “Advertisers want streaming, and they need accountability. A standardised CAPI is a key component in making CTV deliver on both fronts.”
To prepare for the guide, IAB conducted an industry-wide survey to gather insights from brands, agencies, publishers, and tech leaders regarding the necessary steps to fully unlock the performance potential of CTV. The results indicated that 75% of advertisers using CAPI are open to reallocating budgets based on conversion performance. However, 72% of publishers identified technical complexity as a significant barrier to adoption. Respondents highlighted issues such as the fragmentation of the CTV ecosystem and a lack of engagement signals in comparison to social and search channels.
The findings highlight the pressing need for collaboration and standardisation across the CTV ecosystem. The guide serves as a strategic call to action for advertisers and platforms to align on a unified framework for data collaboration and performance measurement, while also providing practical guidance for implementing CAPI across platforms and partnerships.
The key opportunity, the IAB suggests, lies in creating a shared framework in which platforms synchronise on event taxonomies, consent metadata, and data flows. This alignment could minimise operational complexity for advertisers, making initiatives like IAB Tech Lab’s CAPI Standardisation Project more scalable. The organisation’s new specifications go beyond simple conversion tracking to accommodate a wide range of events that advertisers depend on to optimise performance and measure return on investment (ROI).
Finstein concluded, “With this guide, we encourage the industry to move forward together. By providing a practical roadmap rooted in data and cross-industry feedback, IAB aims to expedite scalable CAPI adoption, ensuring that CTV can meet the demands of today’s advertisers.”
