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IAB Categorization Guide

Last updated: March 25, 2023

This is a complete guide explaning the IAB Content Taxonomy standard and how you can use it.

What is the IAB

The IAB stands for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a global trade association for the digital advertising industry. Its mission is to empower the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy by developing industry standards, conducting research, and providing education and advocacy for its members.

The IAB is responsible for developing and promoting industry standards and best practices, including ad formats, measurement metrics, and privacy guidelines. It also conducts research on digital advertising trends and issues and provides educational resources and training for its members. Additionally, the IAB advocates for the digital advertising industry and represents its members in public policy discussions and regulatory matters.

More information from Wikipedia.

Why is the IAB Content Taxonomy helpful?

The IAB Content Taxonomy is a standardized categorization system that helps publishers and advertisers classify digital content based on its topic, format, and intended audience. It is helpful because it provides a consistent framework for organizing and understanding the vast amount of digital content available on the internet.

Developers can use the IAB Content Taxonomy in a few ways. Firstly, they can use it to ensure that their own digital content is appropriately categorized and labeled. This can help their content be more easily discovered by users who are searching for specific topics or types of content. Secondly, developers can use the taxonomy when building tools or applications that rely on content classification or content analysis. For example, a news aggregator app might use the taxonomy to categorize and sort news articles based on topic or format.

Overall, the IAB Content Taxonomy can be a useful tool for developers who are building digital products that involve content classification or analysis. By providing a standardized framework for organizing and understanding digital content, the taxonomy can help developers create more effective and user-friendly products.

IAB Content Taxonomy Download

Both are provided via CC3.0 attributed to IAB Tech Lab (XLSX files) Here are the compelte taxonomies of both versions 3.0 and 2.2 in JSON format:

Content Taxonomy 3.0 vs 2.0

The IAB Content Taxonomy 3.0 is the latest version of this taxonomy and offers more detailed and comprehensive categorization of online content, including social media, podcasts, and mobile apps. Adopting IAB Content Taxonomy 3.0 can help you categorize your content more accurately and efficiently, making it easier for advertisers to target ads to your site's specific audience.

But, version 2.2 is still more widely used, that's why Categorizer.io uses 2.2 version at the moment.

Content Taxonomy 3.0 vs 2.2 Teir 1 Categories:

2.2 Tier 1 Categories:

Automotive
Books and Literature
Business and Finance
Careers
Education
Events and Attractions
Family and Relationships
Fine Art
Food & Drink
Healthy Living
Hobbies & Interests
Home & Garden
Medical Health
Movies
Music and Audio
News and Politics
Personal Finance
Pets
Pop Culture
Real Estate
Religion & Spirituality
Science
Shopping
Sports
Style & Fashion
Technology & Computing
Television
Travel
Video Gaming
Sensitive Topics

3.0 Tier 1 Categories:

Hobbies & Interests
Holidays
Home & Garden
Law
Maps & Navigation
Medical Health
Music
Personal Celebrations & Life Events
Personal Finance
Pets
Politics
Pop Culture
Productivity
Real Estate
Religion & Spirituality
Science
Sensitive Topics
Shopping
Sports
Style & Fashion
Technology & Computing
Travel
Video Gaming
War and Conflicts
Content Environment
Content Purpose
Content Source
Content Form Factor

The information and results provided on this website are for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as valid or accurate. We make no warranties or guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information.