By Jennifer Derke
Since the launch of the OpenData Task Force at IAB Tech Lab earlier this year, we’ve gathered input for the technical needs of digital marketers for data management beyond the initial scope of the task force. Our primary mandate has been to make the process of merging data sets from various data sources more efficient, exemplified in the use case of agency/advertiser data analyst teams. Through our bi-weekly working group conversations, we’ve learned there are more technical needs to solve for around data and digital marketing.
Right now, the mission of the OpenData Task Force is to develop a forward-facing standard nomenclature for aggregate campaign performance data field headers and corresponding mapping rules. This will be a resource for agency analysts, technology platforms, and data provider companies to aide in merging aggregate reports. We hope to see that this standard will also encourage a shift in data management trends across the industry, causing a ripple effect in future product builds that can align around this standard. This is phase one: OpenData 1.0.
OpenData 1.0 requires the input of DSPs, Ad Servers, and Demand-stack platforms who pass data downstream towards agencies and advertisers. These various data sources come together to contribute the actual data field headers that will be included in the mapping rules. The following image shows the key components of the Standard we are building for phase one.
In the midst of our work on OpenData 1.0 standard, we continue to face a need to reconcile the entanglement of audience data segments within all data sets, and a need to build mapping at an atomic level as well. We find ourselves in new conversations about additional scopes of data sets (e.g. audience segments), and exploring options for building tools to help automate this process.
While we continue work on OpenData 1.0, we will maintain a roadmap list of new areas of data management that will require our attention down the pipeline. Our partnership with the IAB’s Data Center of Excellence continues to function as a constant check of potential technical solutions against the business needs of the industry.
I’m looking forward to finishing the work of OpenData 1.0 and onwards to the list of challenges for us to tackle. If you would like to participate in phase one and building the Standard Nomenclature for Aggregate Campaign Performance Data, you can contact Jennifer@dev.iabtechlab.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Derke
Senior Manager, Product Management, IAB Tech Lab