IAB Tech Lab launches open-source solution Trusted Server

New Delhi: IAB Tech Lab, the digital advertising technical standards-setting body, announced the launch of Trusted Server.

This new open-source server-side ad management framework aims to give publishers complete control over ad monetisation amid increasing browser restrictions and signal loss.

Trusted Server is built as an open-source industry solution and shifts critical advertising functions away from the browser and into publisher-operated infrastructure, to preserve first-party signal, enhance privacy compliance, and mitigate publisher data leakage.

“Enough is enough. The digital media industry has been playing defence for too long—watching browsers dictate the rules while publishers lose revenue,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. “Trusted Server flips the script. We’re giving power back to the publishers to run their own advertising middle layer, ensuring granular data control and security. This is a line in the sand. Either the digital media ecosystem takes control of its destiny or we watch the open web shrink even further.”

Browsers like Safari and Chrome have been tightening their grip on digital advertising, stripping away key signals – like third-party cookies and IP addresses, etc – and entire monetisation capabilities in the name of privacy, making it harder for publishers to sustain their businesses, said IAB Tech Lab in a statement.

Katsur continued, “It’s not just Chrome and Safari—these restrictions are widespread across browsers. The W3C is also considering widespread changes to browser standards that could further limit publisher visibility and control of their audience data. If this trend continues, publishers risk losing their ability to optimise ad revenue and stay competitive. But the industry isn’t standing by and letting it happen.”

Katsur added, “The current way digital advertising runs is bogging down websites with too much third-party JavaScript and network calls, resulting in sluggish sites and a frustrating consumer experience. Moving as much as possible to the server side will lower page weight and eliminate myriad third-party network calls, leading to improved page load times.”

Key features of Trusted Server include server-side ad requests, prebid server integration, edge cloud processing, server-side ad stitching, and faster web pages.

“We were glad to partner with IAB Tech Lab to test the Trusted Server prototype because we believe in what it stands for—giving publishers more control while keeping privacy front and centre. Equativ’s unique position as an independent end-to-end stack allowed us to integrate our ad server easily into the prototype,” said Curt Larson, Chief Product Officer, Equativ. “This is the kind of balance the industry needs, and we can’t wait to see how publishers come together to put it into action and help keep the open web strong.”

“The industry has been stuck in a privacy-vs-monetisation death spiral, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With Trusted Server, publishers can monetise their business and keep privacy, regulatory compliance and data control at the forefront,” said Shailley Singh, EVP, Product and Chief Operating Officer, IAB Tech Lab. “This isn’t just an experiment. The technology is real, and we’re calling on publishers to help define the future.”

The Tech Lab invites publishers, ad tech providers, and the broader industry to participate in the open-source Trusted Server initiative.

On March 20, 2025, a working prototype was showcased at Signal Shift: Privacy and Addressability in New York.

During Q2 2025, IAB Tech Lab will launch a Trusted Server Task Force, accept industry contributions to the open source repository for the functionality that should be included in the MVP release, and invite Publishers to test the Trusted Server implementation. 

Tech Lab will announce upcoming webinars, lunch and learns, and technical support for the initial test deployments with publishers and their monetisation partners.