The IAB Tech Lab has proposed an update to the OpenRTB SupplyChain v1.1 object intended to provide buyers with greater transparency into the technical routing entities of programmatic ad bid requests. The proposal aims to enable advertisers to audit not only financial payment flows but also the specific technical infrastructure, such as SSAI platforms and wrappers, involved in the transaction lifecycle.
This shift moves supply-path optimization (SPO) from a cost-saving exercise focused on the 'shortest path' to a transparency framework that maps the technical lifecycle of every impression. For the CTV and streaming sector, where fragmented infrastructure like server-side ad insertion (SSAI) often obscures the bid path, this standard provides the data needed to eliminate duplicative requests and verify tech-vendor performance. By distinguishing between financial and technical nodes, buyers can reward vendors that provide full technical disclosure, potentially reshaping which SSPs and wrappers gain priority in premium video auctions. Watch for DSPs to integrate these technical 'custody' signals into their automated SPO bidding logic following the comment period.
The IAB Tech Lab's SupplyChain v1.1 proposal builds on a layered security framework the organization has developed over several years for programmatic supply-chain integrity. The Lab's existing Ads.txt specification, which allows publishers to publicly declare authorized digital sellers, has already been extended to connected television environments, with platforms beginning implementation, according to Shailley Singh, the IAB Tech Lab's SVP of product management. The new technical-custody fields in SupplyChain v1.1 represent the next layer, moving beyond authorization (who can sell) to technical accountability (which systems handled the impression).
The business case for this kind of transparency has been quantified by advertiser-side research. The ANA's Q1 2026 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark found that higher-performing advertisers converted 54.0% of programmatic spend into qualified impressions, while lower-performing advertisers converted just 32.1%, a 21.9-point gap driven in part by stronger measurement quality and more concentrated supply chains. The benchmark, developed in partnership with TAG TrustNet and Fiducia, uses impression-level log data to reconcile supply-chain costs and quality, providing the kind of granular visibility that the SupplyChain v1.1 technical-custody fields are designed to standardize at the bid-request level.
From a technical standpoint, the proposal directly addresses fraud and opacity risks inherent in server-side ad insertion, which has become the dominant delivery mechanism for CTV advertising. The IAB Tech Lab's Ads.cert technology authenticates SSAI requests by allowing servers to cryptographically sign bid requests, confirming the identity of the originating platform, while the Open Measurement SDK provides final verification that an ad reached a device and was viewable. The SupplyChain v1.1 update complements these tools by embedding technical-custody metadata directly into OpenRTB bid requests, giving DSPs a standardized field to evaluate SSAI and wrapper participation without relying solely on out-of-band certification programs.
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