Tech Lab releases PAIR protocol for the industry

IAB Tech Lab, the global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced today the launch of the PAIR (Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation) protocol. Developed by the Rearc Addressability and Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) working group, PAIR provides a privacy-centric approach for advertisers and publishers to match and activate their first-party audiences for advertising use cases without relying on third-party cookies.

Google initially donated the PAIR protocol to IAB Tech Lab, and the working group has further developed it into an open standard that enables interoperability between data clean rooms and allows all DSPs to adopt the protocol for enhanced privacy-safe audience targeting. As part of this effort, IAB Tech Lab will be updating the PAIR prebid module so it can be leveraged by all Data Clean Rooms and DSPs, as well as publishing open-source reference implementation to support adoption by publishers. The PAIR protocol is open for public comment starting today and continuing until October 25, 2024. 

“Privacy-enhancing technologies are providing a path to unlocking first-party data in secure and privacy-centric approaches for both advertisers and publishers,” said Shailley Singh, EVP, Product, and COO, IAB Tech Lab. “PAIR is designed as an open standard to help advertisers and publishers choose their preferred Data Clean Room and DSP partners. It’s an important step forward for privacy-first advertising while maintaining the ability for advertisers to target and activate audiences effectively and for publishers to monetize their audience without data leakage.”

You can read the full press release here. The public comment period is open until October 25th, 2024.


Shailley Singh headshot
Shailley Singh
COO & EVP, Product
IAB Tech Lab