Mumbai: In a bold move to counter the tightening grip of browsers on digital advertising, the IAB Tech Lab, the global standards-setting body for digital advertising, has announced the launch of Trusted Server — a new open-source server-side ad management framework designed to return data control and monetization power to publishers.
Amid rising concerns around signal loss and increasingly restrictive browser environments, Trusted Server is positioned as a transformative solution that shifts critical advertising operations away from the browser and into publisher-controlled infrastructure. The result is enhanced privacy compliance, data security, and revenue resilience, empowering publishers to take back control of their digital ecosystems.
“Enough is enough. The digital media industry has been playing defense for too long—watching browsers dictate the rules while publishers lose revenue,” said Anthony Katsur, CEO of 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.”
Turning the Tide Against Browser Lockdowns
Browsers like Chrome and Safari have drastically limited key monetization capabilities, including the use of third-party cookies and IP address tracking, under the umbrella of user privacy. This has left publishers scrambling to maintain ad revenues and data insights.
“It’s not just Chrome and Safari—these restrictions are widespread across browsers,” Katsur continued. “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 optimize ad revenue and stay competitive. But the industry isn’t standing by and letting it happen.”
With Trusted Server, publishers can reclaim visibility into when and how their first-party data is shared, enabling more transparent operations while honoring user privacy and data rights. The platform offers a future-ready foundation for sustaining open web monetization models in a privacy-first era.
Streamlining the Digital Experience
Beyond protecting publisher revenues, Trusted Server also aims to enhance the consumer web experience by reducing browser-side processing and network bloat.
“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,” Katsur added. “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
- Server-Side Ad Requests – Reduces reliance on browsers and mitigates ad-blocking.
- Prebid Server Integration – Allows seamless auction execution within publisher-managed infrastructure.
- Edge Cloud Processing – Captures and processes data securely while improving site speed.
- Server-Side Ad Stitching – Offers seamless, first-party content experiences with monetization intact.
- Faster Web Pages – Reduces latency and enhances user experience by offloading heavy processes from the browser.
Trusted Server also supports third-party plugin integration, enabling fraud prevention, brand safety, identity, and measurement partners to connect without disrupting the publisher’s ecosystem.
“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 center,” said Curt Larson, Chief Product Officer, Equativ. “Equativ’s unique position as an independent end-to-end stack allowed us to integrate our ad server easily into the prototype. 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-monetization death spiral, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Shailley Singh, EVP, Product & Chief Operating Officer, IAB Tech Lab. “With Trusted Server, publishers can monetize their business and keep privacy, regulatory compliance and data control at the forefront. This isn’t just an experiment. The technology is real, and we’re calling on publishers to help define the future.”
A working prototype of Trusted Server was first showcased at the Signal Shift: Privacy & Addressability event in New York on March 20, 2025. Moving forward, IAB Tech Lab will form a Trusted Server Task Force in Q2 2025, encouraging participation from publishers, ad tech players, and contributors to shape its MVP release. Industry members are invited to join webinars, participate in testing, and access technical support during the rollout.
