Google launching Technical ad delivery support on AdMob inventory

Google AdMob is introducing Technical ad delivery to help publishers ensure that displayed ads adhere to regulations in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Technical ad delivery will be available by the end of March (an exact date was not confirmed).

Why we care. Publishers that don’t fully comply with EU regulations could be blocked or suspended from the IAB Europe Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF). Consequently, they would lose the ability to use a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) for serving ads in the EEA or UK.

What is Technical ad delivery? Technical ad delivery is a solution designed to help publishers, who have adopted the IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework v2.2, ensure ads comply with the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when consent and legitimate interest for non-special purposes aren’t present.

What is a special purpose? This term refers to one of the defined purposes for processing of data, including users’ personal data, by participants in the Framework that are defined in the Policies or the Specifications for which Vendors declare a Legal Basis in the Global Vendor List and for which the user is not given choice by a CMP.

How technical ad delivery works. Technical ad delivery uses IP addresses exclusively for the technical delivery of ads and does not engage in other personal data processing operations permitted under different TCF purposes.

No action needed. There is no action to take now as Technical ad delivery doesn’t require any implementation in the AdMob user interface. If you set up your CMP to call AdMob on traffic without legitimate interest or consent, AdMob will attempt to serve technical ad delivery traffic.

Eligibility. On AdMob, only non-Google waterfall mediation demand is eligible to serve using Technical ad delivery. (Waterfall mediation calls ad sources one-by-one, ordered by the average eCPM you’ve defined, rather than the amount the ad source is willing to pay.)

What is the TCF? TCF is a voluntary standard developed by IAB Europe that fosters collaboration between website publishers, app developers, and technology partners. It ensures a standardized user experience for privacy choices, allowing users to grant or withhold consent and exercise their “right to object” to data processing, based on practical requirements from Data Protection Authorities and legal principles.