Anthony Katsur

Nexstar SVP/Digital Strategy Anthony Katsur to head IAB Tech Lab

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that former Nexstar SVP/Digital Strategy Anthony Katsur will be joining IAB as CEO of IAB Tech Lab on 2 August 2021, succeeding Dennis Buchheim who has moved on to Facebook.

IAB Tech Lab works with the interactive ad industry to develop guidelines, write specifications, develop technology and provide services to help interactive advertising grow, focused on 4 themes:

• Brand safety and ad fraud
• Identity, data and consumer privacy
• Ad experiences and measurement
• Programmatic effectiveness

IAB Tech Lab was among players in the ad industry that called for Google to delay its planned removal of third-party cookies from Chrome (which Google did in June, to a new target date of late 2023). While at Nexstar, Mr. Katsur conducted experiments that demonstrated how dependent publishers are on Google's ad technology.

(Note that Google has representation on the board of the IAB Tech Lab.)

Mr. Katsur said:

“The ecosystem is better in having constant communication and partnership with Google to drive the industry forward.”

As IAB Tech Lab CEO, Mr. Katsur's priorities will include:

• Setting standards for alternative forms of addressable advertising that satisfy consumer privacy
• Creating frameworks and standards for the connected-TV industry
• Improving security and fighting ad fraud

An early initiative will be the creation of an IAB Tech Lab Transparency Center to bring buyers and sellers of digital advertising together to share information on privacy and compliance.

The IAB is composed of 650+ media and technology companies responsible for various aspects of digital advertising or marketing campaigns, and works with publishers to foster the growth of internet advertising.