What is IAB?


The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) functions as a body in the ad technology industry and develops standards and guidelines for the proper functioning of the industry. 


Founded in 1996, the IAB has become a leading association in the field of interactive advertising, mainly creating standards and guidelines for the advertising/publishing industries.  


IAB gathers over 680 media and technology companies responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital advertising and/or marketing campaigns.


What are banners?


Banners, also known as display ads, are a form of text and graphical information embedded into a webpage, aiming to encourage the user to follow a call-to-action. Banner dimensions are typically defined by width and height, represented in pixels.


An IAB banner designed for cookies is a form of notification that shows your visitors important information regarding how their cookies are being used on your site. 


Pros

In times of data protection laws being passed around the world, such as the LGPD in Brazil, CCPA in the US, GDPR in Europe and among others - it is essential to be aware of the movements of the global market to reach out to customers and let them know about your policy and your data collection information. 


IAB banners can be an effective solution to pass out the message while also in line with current legislation.

  • The cost of delivery is low and the volume of impressions is high.
  • Standard banners can be changed and tested much faster among other competing formats.
  • It is possible to have smaller test iterations by looking for percentual increase of views.
  • Allows quick test learning that can be applied to other formats, improving overall performance.


Cons

Displaying an IAB banner for cookie compliance can be a trade-off between law compliance and loss of visitor’s data. 


This trade-off is a result of a good practice of compliance that clarifies the inner workings of the website’s data collection and its business and marketing/operations management:


  • Your site may appear to have a decline in detailed traffic reports and analytics, which could include data such as: time visiting a page; relevant keywords that brought the user there; how was the page located; how many pages had been accessed, etc.
  • Third-party marketing integrations, such as Facebook Campaigns or Google Ads, depend on the acceptance of terms by the end user.
  • Some other third-party tools helping to craft analytics reporting, and meaningful integrations rely on essential cookies, like Chatbots and Help Centers. Later, this visitor may be missing from the analytic reports due to not being complacent to analytic cookies.
  • Banner overlaps: overlays can skew your banner, confusing users with what's on offer. Also, overlapping text may be unreadable at diminutive devices or screens.