Last updated: 13 October 2026

AAMP, the Agentic Advertising Management Protocols, is IAB Tech Lab's open-source framework for agentic advertising. It is the umbrella for all of IAB Tech Lab's agentic work, and it extends existing advertising standards so that AI agents can use them, rather than replacing them with something new. IAB Tech Lab announced AAMP in early 2026. It is a set of separately versioned components, not a single specification.

TL;DR. AAMP gives buyer agents and seller agents a common, open foundation built on the standards the industry already uses. Its components cover agent communication and orchestration, reference buyer and seller agents, OpenProposal for publisher products and RFP responses, agent discovery, agent services inside host platforms, and audiences. According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's support for the Deals API covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces, the open marketplace and linear GRPs. IAB Tech Lab's published AAMP material describes no compliance certification for marketplaces; what it runs is an Agent Registry where companies list the agents they bring to market.

What is AAMP?

AAMP is the name IAB Tech Lab gives to its agentic advertising initiative and the open-source code and specifications that come with it. IAB Tech Lab describes AAMP as the umbrella under which all of its agentic work is developed in partnership with the advertising ecosystem, and its own explainers frame the work as "agentifying" existing standards.

That framing matters for buyers and publishers. AAMP does not ask the market to abandon OpenRTB, deal IDs or existing supply chain transparency tools. It adds the pieces agents need to work with them: a way for agents to communicate, a common format for what a seller is offering, and reference agents that show how the parts fit together.

What are the components of AAMP?

AAMP is published on GitHub as a hub repository linking to each component. Each component is versioned independently. The current components are:

agentic-direct: the core communication framework and orchestration layer for agent interaction.
buyer-agent: a reference implementation of demand-side agent logic and decision workflows.
seller-agent: a reference implementation of supply-side coordination and marketplace interaction.
OpenProposal: a specification that standardises how publishers define advertising products and packages and represent them in RFP responses. IAB Tech Lab describes it as part of AAMP 3.0.
registry-agent-example: a demonstration of agent discovery, registration and coordination.
Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF): a foundation for agent services that run inside a host platform and that the orchestrating platform can call directly.
agentic-audiences: an open protocol for interoperability across advertising agents working with audiences.

Which deal types does AAMP support?

According to IAB Tech Lab, AAMP's support for the Deals API means it covers programmatic guaranteed, preferred deals, private marketplaces and the open programmatic marketplace, as well as linear GRPs. That breadth is the practical difference between AAMP and a negotiation-only protocol: an agent built on AAMP can work across the deal types a trading desk already uses.

OpenProposal extends this upstream of the deal. Because publishers can describe their products and packages in a standard format, a buyer agent can compare RFP responses from different sellers without translating each one.

Which platforms implement AAMP?

IAB Tech Lab's published AAMP material describes no certification of marketplaces as "AAMP compliant". What it does run is the IAB Tech Lab Agent Registry, part of its Tools Portal, where companies register the MCP and A2A agents they bring to market, categorise them and state their purpose and maturity. Each registering company is tied to its GPP ID, and IAB Tech Lab reviews entries for the required validation information. The registry is free to use for members and non-members. IAB Tech Lab named Equativ and PubMatic among its early supporters at launch.

For a buyer, the useful questions are therefore specific. Is the vendor's agent listed in the Agent Registry? Which AAMP components does the product use, and at which version? Which deal types does it support through the Deals API? A vendor that claims "AAMP compliance" without answering those questions is describing an intention, not a status.

How does AAMP relate to AdCP?

AAMP and AdCP come from different bodies and are developing in parallel. AAMP is IAB Tech Lab's framework and builds agent capability onto existing IAB standards. AdCP, the Ad Context Protocol, is published by AgenticAdvertising.org and defines a set of tasks agents use across a campaign, from inventory discovery to delivery reporting, running over MCP or A2A.

The two overlap in purpose: both aim to let agents built by different companies transact without custom integrations. Whether they converge, coexist or compete is still open. For buyers and publishers, the practical step is to ask vendors which of the two they support, at which version, and for which deal types.

What does AAMP not cover?

AAMP standardises how agents communicate, how sellers describe what they offer, and how agents connect to existing deal types. It does not by itself give buyer and seller a single shared record of the commercial terms they agreed, held identically by both sides. That record is what settlement, makegoods and disputes depend on, and it sits with the marketplace or the contract between the parties.

Alkimi, an agentic advertising marketplace, positions itself as a layer alongside AAMP rather than a replacement for it: buy-side and sell-side agents agree terms on a shared DealSheet that both parties hold, with humans keeping approval rights at the deal level.

Frequently asked questions

What does AAMP stand for?

AAMP stands for Agentic Advertising Management Protocols. It is published by IAB Tech Lab.

When was AAMP announced?

IAB Tech Lab announced AAMP in early 2026, as the umbrella for all of its agentic advertising work.

Is AAMP a single specification?

No. AAMP is a framework of separately versioned components, including agentic-direct, reference buyer and seller agents, OpenProposal, the Agentic RTB Framework and agentic-audiences.

Is there an AAMP compliance certification?

IAB Tech Lab's published AAMP material describes none. It runs an Agent Registry where companies list their agents, with entries reviewed for validation information.

What is the difference between AAMP and AdCP?

AAMP is IAB Tech Lab's framework for adding agent capability to existing advertising standards. AdCP, the Ad Context Protocol, is a separate protocol published by AgenticAdvertising.org that defines tasks agents use across a campaign.

Does AAMP replace OpenRTB?

No. AAMP is designed to agentify existing standards, including OpenRTB and the Deals API, rather than replace them.

What Is the AAMP Standard and Which Platforms Implement It?