IAB Tech Lab launches open-source Trusted Server solution

IAB Tech Lab has introduced Trusted Server, an open-source tool that promises to provide publishers with a control over ad monetisation. Over the past few years, popular browsers such as Safari and Chrome have been imposing restrictions on access to third-party cookies, IP addresses, and other identifiers, effectively limiting the delivery of digital ads to advertisers’ target consumers. As a result, the monetisation possibilities of publishers are curtailed drastically.

Built as an open-source solution, Trusted Server moves core advertising operations from the browser to publisher-managed infrastructure. It helps preserve first-party data, curb publisher data leakage, and improve privacy compliance. The tool allows publishers to manage ad requests, execute auctions, and display creatives via their own, server-side systems.

“Enough is enough. The digital media industry has been playing defence 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 advertising middle layer, ensuring granular data control and security,” he said.

By eliminating client-side dependencies, the tool mitigates ad-blocking threats. Programmatic auctions can be executed with existing SSP partners via pre-bid server integration within the publisher’s controlled environment. The edge cloud processing feature ensures data signals are captured and processed securely while improving page performance. As the processing happens at the server side, it also reduces page bloat, the loading of unnecessary or oversized elements on a web page, thus, loading the pages faster.

Shailley Singh, EVP, Product & Chief Operating Officer, IAB Tech Lab, said, “The industry has been stuck in a privacy-vs-monetisation death spiral, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With Trusted Server, publishers can monetise their business and keep privacy, regulatory compliance and data control at the forefront.”

While supporting the essential third-party plugins and with its plug-and-play approach, Trusted Server seamlessly integrates solutions for fraud prevention, brand safety, identity solutions, and measurement.

Drawn by the tool’s promise to give publishers greater control while maintaining privacy, the French advertising technology company tested the Trusted Server prototype by integrating it with its ad server. Equativ’s chief product officer Curt Larson, said, “This is the kind of balance the industry needs.”

On March 20, 2025, IAB Tech Lab previewed a working prototype at the ’Signal Shift: Privacy & Addressability’ show in New York. The company plans to launch the Trusted Server Task Force in the second quarter of 2025, while accepting industry contributions to the open-source repository for the functionality to be included in the MVP release. It is also inviting publishers to test the tool implementation.

The IAB Tech Lab, a global non-profit consortium, was in the news recently for its initiatives to standardise digital advertising in the wake of risiging data privacy concerns. It launched the 'Ad Format IDOL' initiative last year to standardise the connected TV ad formats, and introduced new genre taxonomy guidance to enhanced transparancy in programmatic advertising on CTV. It also launched a
data deletion request framework to help advertisers in privacy compliance. In response to India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), the IAB Legal Affairs Council launched a dedicated working group to ensure compliance with the India-specific rules.