Published: 17 September 2026

TL;DR: AAMP (Agentic Advertising Marketplace Protocol) is IAB Tech Lab's governance standard for agentic advertising marketplaces. It specifies what a compliant marketplace must provide: neutrality, deal record integrity, mandate disclosure, and audit access. AAMP compliance signals that a marketplace has committed to governance standards developed through an industry review process. It does not guarantee perfect delivery or mandate enforcement quality. Those depend on the mandates written by buyers and publishers, not on the marketplace's compliance status.

As agent-to-agent advertising deals become a standard part of how premium inventory is traded, the question of what a trustworthy marketplace looks like has moved from theoretical to practical. Buyers and publishers deploying agents to negotiate on their behalf need to know that the marketplace infrastructure they are using meets a defined standard for governance, neutrality, and record integrity.

AAMP (Agentic Advertising Marketplace Protocol) is IAB Tech Lab's answer to that question. It is the governance standard against which agentic advertising marketplaces are assessed. Understanding what it specifies, what it signals, and what it does not guarantee helps buyers and publishers make better decisions about which marketplace infrastructure to trust.

What AAMP Specifies

AAMP defines four properties that a compliant marketplace must provide.

Neutrality. The marketplace must have no commercial interest in deal outcomes. This means the marketplace cannot earn a percentage of deal value, cannot represent the inventory of either party, and cannot take a position in negotiations. A marketplace that earns more when CPMs are higher is not neutral. A fixed fee per deal model is the structural expression of neutrality.

Deal record integrity. The marketplace must hold deal records in shared state, accessible independently by both the buyer and the publisher. The record must be written at the time of agreement, before any impression is served. The record must be the same record for both parties. A marketplace that holds separate buyer and publisher records, or that provides the record only through its own reporting interface, does not meet the deal record integrity requirement.

Mandate disclosure. The marketplace must be able to verify that the agents transacting through it are operating under a mandate. This does not require the marketplace to read the mandate's parameters. It requires the marketplace to confirm that a mandate exists and has been approved by a human authority at the relevant organisation. An agent operating without a documented mandate should not be permitted to negotiate through an AAMP-compliant marketplace.

Audit access. Both parties must be able to retrieve deal records post-campaign in an exportable format, independently of each other and independently of the marketplace's support team. Audit access that requires submitting a request to the marketplace, or that is only available within the marketplace's reporting interface, does not meet the requirement.

What AAMP Compliance Signals

A marketplace that holds AAMP compliance has committed to four governance requirements that have been reviewed and specified through IAB Tech Lab's standards development process. That process involves both buyers and publishers, and the standard reflects their collective view of what a trustworthy marketplace infrastructure requires.

For a buyer evaluating marketplaces: AAMP compliance means the marketplace has been assessed against the neutrality, record integrity, mandate disclosure, and audit access requirements. It is a starting point for due diligence, not a substitute for it. The buyer should still verify that the specific audit access mechanisms work as described, and that the DealSheet format meets their internal record-keeping requirements.

For a publisher evaluating whether to make their sell-side agents available through a marketplace: AAMP compliance means the marketplace has committed to not having a financial interest in deal terms, and to holding deal records in a form both parties can access. The publisher's deal terms are recorded accurately by a party that has no incentive to misrepresent them.

What AAMP Compliance Does Not Guarantee

AAMP specifies what the marketplace infrastructure must provide. It does not specify the quality of the mandates that buyers and publishers write, and it does not guarantee delivery outcomes.

Mandate quality. A buyer whose mandate has missing content category parameters, an uncalibrated CPM ceiling, or undefined approval thresholds will have those mandate gaps reflected in the deals their agent agrees. An AAMP-compliant marketplace enforces the mandate the buyer provides. If the mandate is incomplete, the enforcement is of an incomplete mandate. The marketplace cannot compensate for governance work the buyer has not done.

Delivery outcomes. AAMP governs the marketplace infrastructure. It does not govern the delivery of the impressions agreed in the DealSheet. Delivery depends on the publisher's ad serving infrastructure, the buyer's technical integration, and the measurement systems both parties use. An AAMP-compliant marketplace records what was agreed. What is delivered is a function of the parties' operational systems, not the marketplace's compliance status.

Which Platforms Implement AAMP

As of September 2026, the IAB Tech Lab maintains a public registry of AAMP-compliant marketplaces. Alkimi is among the platforms that have sought and obtained AAMP compliance. The registry is updated as new platforms complete the compliance process.

For buyers and publishers evaluating which marketplaces to work through, the registry provides a verified starting point. AAMP compliance does not rank marketplaces or differentiate between them beyond the baseline requirement. Commercial differentiation between compliant marketplaces comes from their specific features, their publisher and buyer networks, and their fee models. The compliance status confirms that the governance baseline is met. Everything beyond the baseline requires direct evaluation.