NEW YORK, March 20, 2025 -- IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced today the launch of Trusted Server. This new open-source server-side ad management framework gives publishers complete control over ad monetization in an era of increasing browser restrictions and signal loss. Built as an open-source industry solution, Trusted Server shifts critical advertising functions away from the browser and into publisher-operated infrastructure—preserving first-party signal, enhancing privacy compliance, and mitigating publisher data leakage to support a more resilient approach to programmatic advertising.
"Enough is enough. The digital media industry has been playing defense for too long—watching browsers dictate the rules while publishers lose revenue," said Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab. "Trusted Server flips the script. We're giving power back to the publishers to run their own advertising middle layer, ensuring granular data control and security. This is a line in the sand. Either the digital media ecosystem takes control of its destiny or we watch the open web shrink even further."
Trusted Server Puts Publishers Back in the Driver's Seat
Browsers like Safari and Chrome have been tightening their grip on digital advertising, stripping away key signals – like third-party cookies and IP addresses, etc. – and entire monetization capabilities in the name of privacy, making it harder for publishers to sustain their businesses.
Katsur continued, "It's not just Chrome and Safari—these restrictions are widespread across browsers. The W3C is also considering widespread changes to browser standards that could further limit publisher visibility and control of their audience data. If this trend continues, publishers risk losing their ability to optimize ad revenue and stay competitive. But the industry isn't standing by and letting it happen."
With Trusted Server, publishers gain complete control and visibility into how, where, and when their first-party data is shared. This facilitates greater privacy controls for users and content owners while reclaiming ad revenue lost from browser restrictions, marking a turning point for publishers who have long struggled with external forces squeezing their business.
The Trusted Server can also improve the consumer experience across the open web. Katsur says, "The current way digital advertising runs is bogging down websites with too much third-party JavaScript and network calls, resulting in sluggish sites and a frustrating consumer experience. Moving as much as possible to the server side will lower page weight and eliminate myriad third party network calls, leading to improved page load times."
A Smarter Way to Serve and Monetize Ads
Trusted Server enables publishers to manage ad requests, auction execution, and creative delivery entirely in their own server-side framework—removing reliance on third-party tools that browsers continue to restrict. Key features include:
- Server-Side Ad Requests: Eliminates client-side dependencies and mitigates ad-blocking threats.
- Prebid Server Integration: Executes programmatic auctions with existing SSP partners within a controlled publisher environment.
- Edge Cloud Processing: Securely captures and processes data signals while improving page performance.
- Server-Side Ad Stitching: Ensures a simple, first-party content experience while maintaining monetization opportunities.
- Faster Web Pages: Server-side processing reduces page bloat and network calls from the browser, resulting in faster page loads. A quicker site improves user experience and viewability metrics, making it a win-win for publishers and their audiences.
The Trusted Server roadmap outlines robust support for third-party plugins. This plug-and-play approach facilitates seamless integration with fraud prevention, brand safety, identity solutions, and measurement partners without disrupting existing operations.
"We were glad to partner with IAB Tech Lab to test the Trusted Server prototype because we believe in what it stands for—giving publishers more control while keeping privacy front and center. Equativ's unique position as an independent end-to-end stack allowed us to integrate our ad server easily into the prototype," said Curt Larson, Chief Product Officer of Equativ. "This is the kind of balance the industry needs, and we can't wait to see how publishers come together to put it into action and help keep the open web strong."
The Time to Act is Now
"The industry has been stuck in a privacy-vs-monetization death spiral, but it doesn't have to be that way. With Trusted Server, publishers can monetize their business and keep privacy, regulatory compliance and data control at the forefront," said Shailley Singh, EVP, Product & Chief Operating Officer at IAB Tech Lab. "This isn't just an experiment. The technology is real, and we're calling on publishers to help define the future."
The Tech Lab invites publishers, ad tech providers, and the broader industry to participate in the open-source Trusted Server initiative. On March 20, 2025, a working prototype will be showcased at Signal Shift: Privacy & Addressability in New York. During Q2 2025, IAB Tech Lab will launch a Trusted Server Task Force, accept industry contributions to the open source repository for the functionality that should be included in the MVP release, and invite publishers to test the Trusted Server implementation.
Tech Lab will announce upcoming webinars, lunch and learns, and hands-on technical support for the initial test deployments with publishers and their monetization partners.
For more information, visit https://iabtechlab.com/tech-lab-trusted-server/. To sign up to test Trusted Server or to be part of the Trusted Server Task Force, complete this signup form.
About IAB Technology Laboratory
Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and Project Rearc initiative for privacy-centric addressability. Board members/companies are listed at https://iabtechlab.com/about-the-iab-tech-lab/tech-lab-leadership/. For more information, please visit https://iabtechlab.com.
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