New video ad classifications introduced this March—designed to bring more transparency to what advertisers are buying—are struggling to take hold among publishers, partly due to the ever-increasing list of publisher priorities and fears of impacts to revenue.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab last August threw its weight behind video inventory transparency. After receiving feedback that the new guidelines could deflate publisher and video vendor revenues—more than 90% of what had been considered lucrative in-stream video would have been reclassified as the less valuable out-stream video—the IAB Tech Lab released a revised taxonomy in March. Since then, the trade group, and others, have encouraged the industry to adopt the updated four classes of inventory.

Nearly six months later, those efforts to bring clarity to digital video buying remain more concept than reality, nine sell-side sources told Adweek.

Two large supply-side platforms (SSPs), which requested anonymity to discuss sensitive industry dynamics, said between 20% and 30% of their publishers had adopted the new classifications. When the protocols were first introduced, analysts suggested publishers might adopt them by the end of the second quarter.

Publishers are lagging for a variety of reasons, including the lack of financial incentives, a firm deadline and—at times—support from SSPs, according to sell-side sources. 

Underlying this protracted adoption is a lack of clarity as to who is responsible for making sure the new standards are adopted and enforced. SSPs and publishers are both, to some extent, waiting on each other to embrace the standards in earnest. 

“It’s clear that [publishers] are misclassified and that we need to enforce,” an SSP executive told Adweek.

Earlier this year, The Trade Desk assumed the unofficial role of enforcing the new protocol, but it has not yet given any public timeline or plan for enforcement, according to vp of inventory development Will Doherty. Doherty added it has been encouraged by the pace of publisher adoption, though wouldn’t share compliance figures. 

Two smaller SSPs told Adweek they had 65% and near-total compliance among their publishers. Many sources said they were sure that the industry would fully embrace the new classifications eventually, despite an unclear timeline.

Meanwhile, media buyers are growing increasingly tired of the low-quality online video available programmatically, including rampant sound-off, obscured and irrelevant placements, and many are now eschewing the open exchange altogether.

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