The Interactive Advertising Bureau has unveiled its Programmatic Fee Transparency Calculator, a free online tool designed to shed light on all the various technologies and players involved in getting an ad served in the current online ecosystem.
The IAB said it wants this step-by-step breakdown of programmatic billing to “allow for greater pricing transparency across the supply chain.”
“Some refer to the misunderstood fees associated with services as the ‘ad tech tax,'” said Jason White, general manager and vice-president, programmatic revenue at CBS Interactive, and co-chair of the IAB Programmatic Council. “It’s time we cut through the confusion, dispel the misnomer of ‘ad tech tax,’ and help practitioners on both sides of the fence manage and appreciate these valuable assets. As a result, this should improve trust and increase liquidity in the marketplace, which will provide a healthier ecosystem for all buyers and sellers.”
The tool allows users to input details of their media plan such as CPMs and budgets, then select which buy-side and publishing technologies they want to price out – ad serving, DMP tech, verification and so on. Once all the data is entered, the calculator offers a total of publisher and advertiser costs.
“The release of the Transparency Calculator from IAB global is one of several steps towards arming buyers with a clear perspective on the value of their media investments,” said Sonia Carreno, president of IAB Canada. “IAB Canada has distributed the tool to its ad tech council as well as the programmatic and ad operations committees for initial testing and feedback. We anticipate positive feedback from the online media buying community as this tool provides some much needed directional calculation of transparency in the marketplace.”
The tool is available at the IAB website.
