CAPI is getting some standardization.
Earlier today, the IAB Tech Lab announced a new standard up for public comment: ECAPI, or the Event and Conversion API. The goal is to define a common, cross-platform way for the industry to share marketing events and conversions from advertiser systems to platforms and partners to support measurement and optimization.
In practice, ECAPI is meant to reduce bespoke, platform-by-platform CAPI integrations by offering a unified standard everyone can map to. ECAPI will be available for public comment until February 20.
Why This Matters:
CAPI (Conversions API) is a server-side method for sending conversion and event data—think purchases, sign-ups, or leads from an app, site, CRM, POS, etc.—directly from an advertiser to an ad platform, and in real-time. Because the data is sent straight from the source, it’s generally more reliable and higher quality. (Index Exchange has a great video explainer.)
The challenge, however, as the IAB Tech Lab points out, is fragmentation. “While these solutions can be effective individually, integrating with multiple partners often requires custom development work due to differences in structure and requirements. Over time, that complexity can become costly and difficult to scale, especially as new use cases emerge, such as agentic buying based around outcomes.”
That’s where ECAPI comes in. The standard provides a more consistent framework that cuts down on implementation work while still supporting a wide range of use cases. By making integrations easier and more uniform, ECAPI could also drive broader adoption of server-side measurement, boosting the quality and consistency of the data used to optimize campaigns. That’s good for everyone.
Experts React:
In the announcement press release, Barbara Kalicki, Associate Director at Publicis Sapient, pointed to the operational upside of the standard:
“It allows retailers and platforms to focus on improving the value of the data being exchanged rather than rebuilding similar solutions again and again.”
(Short, but sweet.)
Also, here’s Sam Crosby, Senior Director of Product at Index Exchange, from a great explainer video, talking about the value of a solution like ECAPI:
“The need for a standardized option has become increasingly clear… Standardizing CAPI will unlock huge benefits for the industry as a whole. Marketers get more consistent measurement across all their media. Media owners gain a framework to support real-time signals without building custom integrations. Consumers benefit from more relevant ads and fewer repeats of things they’ve already bought.”
Our Take:
It’s no surprise the IAB Tech Lab tied ECAPI to its broader push around agentic buying, noting that “ECAPI will also be built directly into the IAB Tech Lab agentic roadmap so that outcomes-based buying and selling with measurable goals using agents can become a reality.” The organization announced its agentic roadmap/framework earlier this month.
