Welcome to AdsML®
AdsML is an initiative to create the first comprehensive, global standard for the end-to-end advertising workflow — all kinds of advertising, in all media, through all stages of the advertising life cycle.
In practice “AdsML” means two things: it is both an internationally chartered nonprofit Consortium, and also a set of specifications and guidelines that the Consortium has produced (the AdsML Framework of E-commerce Business Standards).
A Blueprint for E-commerce
The AdsML Framework is not software. Rather, it is a set of technical specifications and workflow guidelines, like a blueprint for how businesses can integrate their systems. Once implemented in software, AdsML enables systems to work together across organizational boundaries to provide e-commerce capabilities such as order taking, materials delivery or invoicing. For more information, see E-commerce Specifications.
Localization and Interoperability
The fundamental AdsML approach is to provide a framework that can be further configured by regional or media-specific groups. Almost every AdsML specification includes a large number of optional elements that are required by some users in the world, but that others will find irrelevant. Similarly, AdsML specifications have relatively few mandatory elements, because what is mandatory in one region may be optional in another or ignored entirely in a third. The Framework then provides mechanisms that enable regional or media-specific groups to take advantage of this flexibility while still ensuring interoperability. See Localization for more information.
Implement only what you need
The AdsML Framework includes standards for more e-commerce transactions and functions than any single organization is likely to need. Implementers are encouraged to review the documentation in order to identify the relevant parts of the Framework and then implement only those features that they require.
AdsML in Action
AdsML has been implemented in a variety of projects around the world. You can learn more about some of these projects, and receive guidance to help you start your own, in AdsML Implementation.
