What are "Vendors" in Google Consent for EEA and UK and in IAB TCF?

What is a Vendor?

The term "vendors" refers to providers of advertising technology, also known as Ad Tech Providers. These stakeholders offer a variety of services and solutions that facilitate the buying, selling, and delivery of online advertising.

Selecting vendors in the context of the Consent Banner refers to the ability to choose the technology providers that will participate in the delivery and measurement of your ads. Configuring your banner's vendors means specifying which technology providers can process data related to advertising on your website.

Wait! My website does not show ads. Why is Google requiring me to use IAB TCF anyway?

Truth is, Google is not asking you to use an approved CMP with IAB for ads only, but also to be able to use the Google Tag within EEA and UK. The Google Tag is used for tons of things, being remarketing one of them.

So, in other words, if you are showing ads or doing remarketing in EEA and UK, Google is requiring you to enable IAB TCF in the banner. If you don't do this, Google services might not work properly.

How do I know which vendor should be selected?

Needless to say that IAB TCF goes beyond Google. That's why you see so many vendors in the list. So, if you are reading this because you are using an ad server other than Google, then please log in to that platform, check which are the vendors used and mark them in illow. On the other hand, if you are indeed here because of Google's requirements, here's what you should know.

Google has its own list of Ad Tech Providers (ATP) that work with them in the ad serving process. Fortunately, you can edit this list in some of their platforms. Here are the guides for your Ad Manager, AdSense, or AdMob accounts. If you narrow down this selection within those products, you can do the same at illow to reduce the number of vendors you are asking the consent to share data with.

Please keep in mind that by reducing the number of ATP at Google's, you are also reducing your possibilities to show better and more accurate ads for your audience and earn more revenue.

Last but not least, notice that multiple ATP are also registered as IAB third-party vendors (like Google itself). Therefore, you will not find them listed as Google's Ad Tech Providers, but you will see them within IAB's third parties list.

How do I select vendors in illow's Consent Banner?

To choose the permitted vendors in your Cookie Banner, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to: Side menu > Cookie Banner > Advanced settings

2. Within the GLOBAL or GDPR banner menu, locate the IAB activation switch. On the right side of this switch, you'll find the "Select Vendors" button.

There you will see this pop up, where you can search your vendors by name, or on the lists. Keep in mind that by default, our banner displays all the vendors from the official IAB and Google lists but if you select fewer vendors, only the ones you have chosen will be displayed.

Remember that multiple ATP are also registered as IAB third-party vendors (like Google itself). Therefore, you will not find them listed as Google's Ad Tech Providers, but you will see them within IAB's third parties list.

Having issues with the integration? Check out our Troubleshooting guide.