IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today shared the market adoption figures for the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) v2.0.  517 vendors including Adobe, Google, GroupM, Magnite, The Ozone Project, The Trade Desk and Xandr will implement TCF v2.0 on the 15th August, as well as 70 Consent Management Platforms (CMPs).

Commenting on the positive market update of the TCF v2.0 ahead of the switchover date, Townsend Feehan, CEO IAB Europe said “TCF v2.0 takes the standard to the next level with respect to consumer transparency and choice, publisher control over data processing for advertising and content personalisation, and cross-industry collaboration. We set a target of 500 vendors to give the market the confidence that v2.0 would be fully integrated within our ecosystem by 15th August. We’ve spent the last year providing support and guidance to CMPs, publishers and Vendors, and are confident that we have a robust framework in place that can continue to evolve in light of European Court case law and regulatory enforcement”.

IAB Europe, in partnership with IAB Tech Lab, announced on 21 August 2019 the launch of the second iteration of TCF v2.0. It followed a 12-month review period which included market feedback from all sectors of the digital advertising industry, notably publishers, and nine meetings with Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) throughout Europe. Consumers will see an increase in controls in TCF v2.0 with the more comprehensive inclusion of the functionality within the TCF for a consumer to exercise and signal the “right to object” (RTO) to processing based on a legitimate interest legal basis.

Commenting on the TCF v2.0 switchover Stevan Randjelovic, director, brand safety and digital risk, GroupM EMEA said “We are very pleased to see TCF 2.0 implemented as it brings greater transparency for users, and increased accountability for vendors. It takes a true industry effort and collaboration to create a standardised approach which allows companies to operate seamlessly across Europe, and which provides users with consistent information across publishers. We hope that the improved framework will bring more publishers and vendors on board”.

Businesses were given until the 15th August to adopt the new standards and successfully switch across from TCF v1.1 to TCF v2.0.  Post this date it will not be possible to create new v1.1 consent strings although existing v1.1 consent strings will be supported in absence of v2.0 consent strings until 30 September 2020. The introduction of TCF v2.0 also welcomed many new Vendors and CMPs who were waiting for the updated policies before joining the only privacy compliance solution that was built by the industry for the industry.

Chetna Bindra, Google senior product manager, user trust and privacy: “We are delighted to launch our integration into the TCF v2.0, in line with the switchover from v1.1 by IAB Europe. This marks the successful collaboration across our industry for a standardised framework that combines both ease of use and interoperability and will give users greater control over how their data is used, as well as provide publishers with greater flexibility to work with a range of technology partners.”

Magnite’s vice president of product management Garrett McGrath also commented on the market uptake of TCF v2.0 adding “Since deploying support for TCF 2.0 in March, Magnite has seen a steady increase in the presence of 2.0 signals across the exchange. We are looking forward to a full switch later this month and the greatly increased flexibility 2.0 offers end users, publishers, and the industry at large.”

The support for TCF v2.0 has also been seen from National IABs like IAB UK. Gold Standard 2.0 will require companies to adopt the TCF as part of certification. Commenting on the role the TCF v2,0 will play for the Gold Standard, Tim Elkington, chief digital officer, IAB UK said “TCF v2.0 prioritises consumers’ choice, control and privacy – principles that are central to creating a responsible and sustainable future for the digital ad industry. By incorporating the framework within Gold Standard 2.0 – following a recent consultation with members – we are evolving the criteria for certified members to keep pace with wider industry developments and improve the overall digital experience for consumers.”

Registration to TCF v2.0 is open to all Vendors and CMPs. To join the hundreds of industry stakeholders working with TCF v2.0, please visit https://iabeurope.eu/join-the-tcf/.