IAB Content Taxonomy & Categories
The IAB Content Taxonomy is the advertising industry's standardized classification of content and audience categories, giving buyers and sellers a common vocabulary for describing what a page or app is about.
Key takeaways
- The IAB Content Taxonomy is a standardized list of content and audience categories.
- It gives buyers and sellers a common language across the ecosystem.
- It powers contextual targeting, brand safety, and inventory classification.
- It is maintained and versioned by the IAB Tech Lab.
A common vocabulary
Without a shared taxonomy, every platform would label content differently and buyers couldn't target consistently. The IAB Content Taxonomy standardizes categories "” from 'Automotive' down to specific subtopics "” so a bid request can describe content in a way every DSP understands, enabling contextual targeting and consistent brand-safety rules.
Versions and adjacent standards
The IAB Tech Lab maintains and updates the taxonomy across versions, expanding granularity over time, and pairs it with the Audience Taxonomy and Ad Product Taxonomy. Together these standards let content, audiences, and products be described consistently across the programmatic supply chain.
| What it is | Standardized content/audience categories |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | IAB Tech Lab |
| Powers | Contextual targeting, brand safety |
| Related | Audience & Ad Product taxonomies |
Frequently asked questions
What is the IAB Content Taxonomy used for?
It gives the industry a standardized way to classify content, so buyers can target contextually and apply brand-safety rules consistently across every platform.
Who maintains the IAB taxonomy?
The IAB Tech Lab develops and versions the Content, Audience, and Ad Product taxonomies used across programmatic advertising.