The IAB adopts Amazon’s framework for developing programmatic signals

The IAB Tech Lab is adding Amazon Ads’ Dynamic Traffic Engine to its open source efforts to reduce inefficiencies and improve transparency in signing across the chain of programmatic advertising offerings.

Currently, supply-side platforms send many bid requests without knowing exactly which platforms are prioritized, leading to wasted infrastructure and unnecessary traffic.

Dynamic Traffic Engine is designed to address that gap by giving buyers a way to define their priorities more clearly. Demand-driven platforms can generate the types of bid requests they want over a period of time, from broad criteria to very specific audience or asset preferences.

Supply-side platforms can access and act on those signals, reducing the number of irrelevant requests and improving traffic distribution throughout the system.

The most effective way to share a purpose

The framework uses a file-based approach that allows consumer preferences to be shared in a structured format. Supply-side platforms can poll this information and adjust their bidding flow accordingly, thereby reducing query volume and system complexity.

Fewer but more relevant bid requests can improve efficiency throughout the supply chain, while also creating better alignment between buyers and sellers. That alignment can translate to stronger campaign performance and better inventory monetization.

This approach also reflects a broader shift to more transparent signal sharing in structured environments, where efficiency becomes more important as scale. The result is a system that relies less on understanding and direct communication between platforms.

Designed for industry collaboration

The work will be developed as part of the IAB Tech Lab’s Open Source Project, with input from working groups including the Programmatic Supply Chain group and the Agentic Taskforce. These groups will help shape how the framework is used and expanded.

Initial proposals include integrating the framework into agency advertising agreements and supporting machine-readable formats such as Protocol Buffers. The goal is to ensure interoperability across platforms as automation increases.

By standardizing the way the intent is addressed, the framework aims to support a wide range of use cases without adding complexity to participants. As systems evolve, that kind of shared infrastructure becomes more important for maintaining efficiency at scale.

Why is it important

The move highlights an industry-wide effort to reduce waste in the supply chain by improving the way signals are shared and interpreted. For advertisers, that means more efficient bidding and stronger performance. For publishers, it creates a more predictable way to monetize without relying on excessive traffic.