IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, has reaffirmed the positive uptake by companies throughout the digital advertising industry to the latest update to the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) v2.0. Since launching the revised framework in August 2019, 365 vendors have registered to integrate TCF v2.0. 

Over the last 6 months, vendors and CMPs have been working hard to update their tech stacks, to ensure they comply with the new technical specifications, protocols and policy documents by 31st March 2020, the switchover date for TCF v2.0. The confirmed scale and support of this effort provides the publisher community with confidence that the industry is ready to support the enhanced functionality available within TCF v2.0.

IAB Europe has been supporting vendors and CMPs to manage the switchover process with a wealth of written and other guidance, available on its website, including a series of 10 workshop webinars. This support will continue until the end of June, at which time the switchover will be complete and support for TCF v1.1 will end.

Commenting on the positive industry response to the revised Framework, Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe said “TCF v.20 is an important progression, providing consumers greater understanding and control over how their data is being used, with innovations like more granular data processing purposes and the new “stacks” concept to make layered UIs more intuitive. It is also a boon to regulators trying to enforce the law in our complex ecosystem. Its success is dependent on broad market adoption. We have been really encouraged and impressed that despite the current, challenging circumstances of COVID-19, over 350 tech vendors have publicly stated their commitment to the new framework. In the last few weeks we saw a 100% increase in registrations which shows the commitment the industry is making to not just maintaining, but advancing privacy standards for consumers.”

The widespread adoption of TCF v2.0 includes many of the largest players in programmatic advertising who were previously registered with TCF v1.1, including Adobe, Axel Springer, Criteo, GroupM, Integral Ad Science, Mediamath, Oracle, The Ozone Project, Rubicon Project, The Trade Desk and Xandr, amongst many others. With the TCF v2.0 registration list growing every day, it also welcomes newly joined Vendors including Audiomob, Deutsche Post AG and YouGov.

Jerome Underhill, SVP EMEA, APAC & LATAM, Xandr, one of the registered vendors, commented “TCF v2.0 brings greater transparency and choice to consumers, by providing clear and comprehensive descriptions of how their data is processed across the web, and powerful controls over those activities. Much collaborative effort has gone into the latest framework, including input from multiple data protection authorities. As a result, it gives publishers greater flexibility in how they operate with vendors, and is a major step forward for publishers, advertisers and consumers in ensuring their GDPR needs are met.”

Konrad Feldman, CEO, Quantcast, both a registered vendor and, with Quantcast Choice, a registered CMP in the process of receiving TCF v2.0 certification, commented “TCF v2.0 was designed for the user. It is to internet services what nutrition information is to groceries - telling users about the contents so they can make informed decisions about the online services they use. TCF v2.0 both simplifies the information made available to users and enhances available choices. This enhanced functionality is good news for users, advertisers and publishers. It will provide a solid base for the digital advertising industry and allow the open internet’s wealth of diverse and free content, which it directly supports, to continue to thrive.”

Alice Lincoln, Chair Emeritus of the TCF Steering Group and SVP Data Policy & Governance, MediaMath, also a registered vendor, commented “The TCF is the pan-European standard for demonstrating transparency and accountability in the use of user data for digital advertising. It lets people easily know and control who can process their data and for what purposes, and it provides technical mechanisms for ensuring those choices are honoured. TCF v2.0 gives publishers and users more capabilities and a simpler user experience — a big win not only for consumers but also for publishers, advertisers, and the vendors that support them. The continued evolution of the TCF shows that our industry wants to and can evolve in response to changing laws and norms. We are grateful for the regulatory feedback that shaped TCF v2.0 and look forward to continued dialogue with data protection authorities across Europe in support of strong common standards backed by auditable compliance.”

IAB Europe will continue to support both v1.0 and v2.0 of the TCF until the end of Q2, in June 2020. After this, only TCF v2.0 will be in use for publishers, vendors and CMPs. Companies wishing to register their support for TCF v.20 should do so at: https://iabeurope.eu/join-the-tcf/.