IAB Seeks Industry Feedback on New Digital Video Standards

The current video marketplace suffers from legacy definitions that prioritize technical delivery over consumer behavior. This disconnect often leads to misaligned media planning and inconsistent measurement across platforms. To bridge this gap, the RMT standard introduces a two-layer classification system. The first layer categorizes environments into macro buckets—such as lean-back or personal screen viewing—based on how audiences engage with content. The second layer provides specific, binary attributes like sound state, addressability, and device type, which can be integrated directly into technical protocols like OpenRTB.

Industry leaders argue that this shared language is critical for the rise of agentic workflows, where machines manage ad transactions. Without standardized definitions, automated agents risk making high-stakes tactical errors. The IAB, in partnership with the IAB Tech Lab, is inviting brands, agencies, and publishers to review the framework until August 8, 2026. This initiative is designed to feed directly into the IAB’s Project Eidos taxonomy, ensuring that the new definitions function as a practical, encoded infrastructure rather than a static document.