Category blocking for inventory in Iris Ad Manager refers to the practice of blocking certain categories of ads from appearing on the publisher's VOD or Linear stream. This typically ensures that ads are appropriate and relevant to their audience and avoids the display of ads that may negatively impact their brand image or offend their users.

Publishers use category blocking to influence the types of ads that populate their platforms. This includes the exclusion of ads from categories such as adult content, gambling, or sensitive subjects such as politics or religion. Moreover, category blocking allows publishers to maintain editorial integrity and align their values with the ads that appear on their platforms.

These categories adhere to IAB's content taxonomy, which can be accessed at Content-Taxonomy. In the future, more categories will be supported in Synamedia Iris Ad Manager.

Category blocking can be implemented either at the Channel level or at the Platform level. This offers more control over your ad content.

Channel-Level Category Blocking

For publishers seeking to block specific ad categories on their channels, they can seamlessly apply the channel-level category blocks by utilizing Synamedia Iris Ad Manager’s Inventory API. For more information, see the Channel-Level Category Block - API Reference section.

Platform-Level Category Blocking

For publishers seeking to block specific ad categories on specific websites or apps, they can apply platform-level category blocks through our Platform API. For more information, see the API Reference pages.

Content-Level Category Blocking

If you wish to stop categories of advertisements from appearing alongside or within specific programming then you should use the Category Block control policy. For more information, see Content Metadata Ingest.

Tenant-Level Category Blocking

You can also block certain categories of ads appearing on your entire inventory by applying category blocking of ads at the tenant level. To apply a tenant-level block, contact your customer support team.

Precision in Categorization

The effectiveness of category blocking depends on the accurate assigning of IAB categories to your ads. If you fail to assign the appropriate category or omit categorization altogether, it can result in ads appearing on channels or platforms in unintended contexts.

Using Category Blocking

While category blocking is a potent tool, it is advisable to use it judiciously. Overuse may inadvertently diminish the pool of available ads for delivery to your inventory. This feature should be reserved for situations where it is genuinely necessary to comply with local regulations or standards.

Category Blocking versus Clash Management

The category blocking tools in Synamedia Iris are used to set up permanent exclusions and are not designed for clash management or creative separation. For more information, see Clash Management to know how to manage short-term restrictions.