IAB Tech Lab sets up working group to develop AI content monetisation standards

New Delhi:  IAB Tech Lab, the global body for digital advertising technical standards, has announced the creation of the AI Content Monetization Protocols (CoMP) Working Group. The initiative, earlier introduced as the LLM Content Ingest API, has been renamed to reflect a wider remit covering publisher monetisation, large language model (LLM) discovery, and management of bot and crawler traffic.

“This group came together because the fundamentals of the open web are under ever-increasing pressure,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO, IAB Tech Lab. 

“Publishers are seeing significant traffic drops from AI experiences like overviews and chatbots. Brands are watching their product information get stripped of context or misrepresented. It’s time to build the technical plumbing for a better path forward.”

The working group will focus on building standards that help publishers and content creators sustain monetisation in an AI-first environment. Its framework is designed to address issues such as blocking unwanted scraping, creating discovery systems that allow publishers to feature in AI products, and providing a standardised mechanism for content ingestion. 

These protocols are intended to restore lost ad revenues and give publishers greater control over how their information is accessed and represented. They also propose different monetisation models, from pay-per-crawl to aggregation and outcome-based structures.

“The rise of generative AI created the Wild West for content usage. What we’re building now is the zoning map,” said Shailley Singh, Executive Vice President, Product and Chief Operating Officer, IAB Tech Lab. “This initiative gives publishers the tools to protect their IP and unlock new value, not just plug holes.”

“The rise of AI brings both risks and potential opportunities: without fair value exchange, quality editorial content, and a diverse media landscape, are at stake. At the same time, agentic systems could unlock new markets for publishers,” said Achim Schlosser, VP Global Data Standards at Bertelsmann.

“Standards like CoMP are essential to put control back in the hands of publishers, ensuring visibility, attribution, and sustainable monetization in an AI-driven ecosystem.”

“The AI future is powered by chips, electricity, and information,” said Jon Roberts, Chief Innovation Officer, People Inc. “The best AI products require access to the best content. We’re proud to partner with IAB Tech Lab to build the future economy that allows great AI to fund great journalism.”

Katsur added that the initiative seeks to include the wider ecosystem: “While some content deals have been struck with large publishers, the mid and long tail remain unheard. This framework gives everyone a seat at the table.”