TL;DR: AdCP and AAMP are two separate open standards governing different parts of agentic advertising infrastructure. Understanding what each covers, and how they work together, is essential for US buyers and publishers evaluating agentic platforms.

Two Standards, Two Functions

The rise of autonomous agents in advertising has produced two distinct open standards. They are frequently mentioned together and sometimes confused. They govern different things.

The Agentic Advertising Marketplace Protocol (AAMP) is published by IAB Tech Lab. It governs how agentic marketplaces handle deal negotiation, deal records, and audit logs. It defines the rules for the marketplace layer: what a deal record must contain, who holds it, and how disputes are resolved.

The Agent Communication Protocol (AdCP) is published by AgenticAdvertising.org. It governs how agents communicate with each other during negotiation. It defines the messaging format: how a buy-side agent sends a deal proposal, how a sell-side agent responds, and what the structure of that exchange must look like.

To use an analogy: AAMP is the rulebook for the marketplace. AdCP is the language agents use to talk to each other within it.

Why Both Standards Exist

Each standard addresses a distinct part of the problem.

Before AAMP, there was no common framework for what an agentic marketplace should provide in terms of deal governance. Every platform that claimed to support A2A advertising had its own approach to deal records, audit logs, and dispute resolution. Buyers and publishers had no basis for comparing them, and no standard against which to hold them accountable.

Before AdCP, there was no common protocol for agent-to-agent communication. If a buy-side agent from one vendor needed to negotiate with a sell-side agent from a different vendor, they had no shared language. This fragmented the market and made cross-vendor A2A deals impractical.

Together, the two standards address both the governance layer and the communication layer.

How They Work Together

In a fully standards-compliant A2A transaction, the process works as follows.

The buy-side agent sends a deal proposal to the marketplace. The proposal is structured according to the AdCP schema: it contains the deal parameters in a format the sell-side agent can parse and respond to.

The marketplace receives the proposal and routes it to the sell-side agent according to the AAMP protocol. The sell-side agent evaluates the proposal against the publisher's parameters and responds, also using AdCP messaging.

When both agents agree, the marketplace generates a deal record structured according to the AAMP deal governance specification. Both the buyer and the publisher receive a copy. The marketplace retains the audit log.

The buyer's DSP or campaign management system then receives the deal parameters and executes the campaign against the agreed terms.

What This Means for US Buyers

For US buyers, standards compliance in an agentic platform means two things.

First, the deals their agents agree are documented and auditable to a recognised standard. The deal record is structured in a format that third-party auditors, finance teams, and compliance functions can read.

Second, the platform is interoperable with the rest of the ecosystem. A platform building to AdCP and AAMP is not building a proprietary walled garden. Buyers who adopt a standards-compliant platform are not locked into a vendor-specific deal format.

For US agency trading desks managing relationships with multiple supply partners, standards compliance is the difference between a scalable infrastructure decision and a proprietary commitment.

What This Means for US Publishers

For US publishers, AAMP compliance in their marketplace partner means their deal records are held bilaterally, their audit rights are protected, and their sell-side agent is using a communication protocol that buy-side agents from different vendors can interpret.

A publisher who connects to an AAMP-compliant marketplace can receive deal proposals from any buy-side agent using AdCP, regardless of which platform that agent runs on. This is the interoperability benefit of open standards.

Where Alkimi Fits

Alkimi is building its marketplace to support both AAMP and AdCP. The DealSheet implements bilateral deal custody in line with AAMP governance requirements. The agent communication layer is built on AdCP, so buy-side agents using AdCP-compatible platforms can negotiate directly with publisher supply available through Alkimi.

For US buyers and publishers, this means Alkimi is not asking them to adopt a proprietary standard. It is implementing the standards the industry is converging on.