The IAB

As someone who works in the Advertising industry, I often get asked to validate my profession. Becoming a Lawyer, Doctor or Accountant all require certification exams that validate an individual's knowledge on the topic and gives them the honor of calling themselves a professional in their industry. So how does Advertising govern and set ethical practices and expectations? The answer is through the Internet Advertising Bureau, otherwise as the IAB.

To quote the IAB's website, "the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising" (http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab).

The IAB is an active part of my career. My current company is actively involved in IAB initiatives and support all policies led by the IAB. Our ad units follow the same guidelines as IAB units and runs a number of its Rising Star units. We also actively participate in their certification exams. This past year, all Sales representatives needed to pass the IAB Sales Certification in order to attend our annual sales conferences. 

The IAB is a great way to learn about new trends in the marketplace. After 3.5 years in Ad Operations, I moved into Sales and Account Management for my company's DSP (Demand Side Platform) or what some might refer to as Programmatic Advertising. Programmatic Advertising is new to market and can be described by phrases like RTB (real time bidding) or Non-Reserve. The IAB published white papers on Programmatic Advertising to help educate marketers on the subject. One article included the graph below to help visualize how Programmatic inventory exists within the media world today. 

Programmatic (+ Reserve) Inventory Sources:

This past January I also took the IAB Digital Ad Operations Certification exam. A new exam for the IAB, a number of my Operations Directors took part in helping write the exam, along with many other industry partners and competitors (participating vendors listed at the bottom of the page here). The 3 hour computerized multiple-choice exam was proctored in a Pearson Testing Center, the same testing organization used to monitor exams like the GRE and the GMAT. With over 100+ questions, I completed the exam in an hour and a half and PASSED!!

I have the certificate hanging in my cube at work. It helps remind me to be confident in my digital knowledge and makes me proud to be part of this industry!