{ "published_before_scoring": "2026-09-28", "purpose": "Rules fixed before any product was scored. They define the cohorts and their applicability masks, what each dimension means, what a score of 0 to 5 requires, when a cell is n/e or n/a, which cells count, how availability, evidence grade and verification status are recorded, and how the Listen Quotient summarises them without a league table.", "selection_rules": { "universe": "A reasoned market sample assembled by the vendor-universe sweep (workstream U) from the brief's named seeds plus companies found while researching the other workstreams. Not a census. Named services are classified by what the buyer purchases, from the service description and its selling agreement, not from the company name. Measurement and attribution vendors go in a measurement table; creative and voice-ad tools, agencies and DSPs are listed; AI voice ads, AI-made podcasts and agentic buying are channel and maturity flags.", "scored_set": "A product enters the matrix when it serves one of the two cohorts' buying tasks (sellers: buying audio inventory the seller owns or contractually represents; adtech: licensing a separately supplied hosting, insertion, ad-serving, exchange or SSP service), is live or beta at the cutoff, and has at least inclusion_min_scored counted numeric cells (n/a, n/e and unverified cells do not count). data/product-register.json lists every scored, listed and historical product. Represented supply is scored once, at the seller that represents it; an SDK used to deliver a seller's service does not create an adtech row; a service whose role cannot be settled from the record is listed, not scored.", "deep_profiles": "Six to eight deep profiles, chosen by market weight and depth of public evidence: Spotify, SiriusXM Media (with AdsWizz), iHeartMedia (with Triton Digital), Amazon audio, Acast, one in-game audio seller, and one measurement vendor (descriptive, not scored). A parent group's profile may describe its subsidiaries but never pools their capabilities into one score." }, "scale": { "0": "the record documents that the capability is absent or has failed the criterion", "1": "adjacent or incidental", "2": "partial or indirect, for example via a partner", "3": "real but thinly evidenced, narrow in scope, or beta", "4": "documented and specific but from vendor documentation only, or independently observed but narrow", "5": "the capability is documented in operational detail from an official document, filing or independent observation" }, "cell_rules": { "scale": "0 to 5 integer, evidence-bounded, not absolute; every value is defined in \"scale\" above, and every dimension carries its own anchors for at least 5, 3, 1 and 0.", "zero": "0 is used only when a source documents absence (a vendor statement that the feature is not offered, a retired product, or an independent finding of failure). Missing evidence is never scored 0.", "ne": "n/e (no evidence) when the opened record gives no basis to score either way. Distinct from 0.", "na": "n/a comes only from the cohort's applicability mask (cohorts[].applicable), never vendor by vendor. n/a never enters k, a group mean, the coverage numerator or any imputation.", "availability": "Every scored cell carries one label: live (generally available at the cutoff), beta (limited access or beta), announced (not yet observable), retired, unconfirmed (claimed but no observable evidence).", "evidence_grade": "A = filing, official transaction document, regulator or standards-body record; B = independent measurement or documentation by a party without financial interest; C = vendor technical documentation or help centre; D = vendor marketing, press release or case study; E = none.", "date": "The date of the most recent source the cell rests on (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD).", "verification_status": "Every scored cell carries one: verified (a verifier re-checked the cell's sources), qualified (re-checked; scored against the qualified claim) or unverified. Only verified and qualified cells count; an unverified cell is shown but treated as n/e for admission, k, the quotient and band eligibility.", "product": "The scoring unit is a named product that serves the cohort's buying task, one row per product, each mapped to one record in data/product-register.json. Evidence is not inherited between rows, and an alias or bundle never creates a second row.", "same_standard": "The same evidentiary standard applies to every vendor. Documentation volume is not product quality: a large help centre earns grade C, not a higher score.", "grade_caps": "Vendor documentation (grade C) caps a score at 4 and vendor marketing (grade D) at 3; a grade can cap a score but never raise it. scripts/check.mjs enforces the caps in grade_caps.", "maturity": "Live and beta products may be scored under the caps; announced and retired products are listed in the product register, not scored (check.mjs fails a scored announced or retired cell).", "clarifications": [ "2026-09-29, before any cell was scored (corrections ledger R2-02): counting_assurance 'current' follows the issuing body's stated validity period; a stale listing with no status shown reads at anchor 3, and 0 needs the record itself to show a lapse." ] }, "grade_caps": { "C": 4, "D": 3 }, "inclusion_min_scored": 4, "dimensions": [ { "key": "targeting", "label": "Targeting and context", "short": "Targeting", "definition": "Which targeting the product documents as a working function. Four families: (a) content-level context below the show or station (episode, transcript, programme or daypart); (b) audience data (first-party listener data or third-party segments); (c) advertiser first-party data onboarding (list upload, clean room or data partnership with the integration documented); (d) delivery context (location, device, time). Show or station selection alone is not content-level context.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that no targeting is offered beyond run-of-network, or the targeting function is withdrawn", "1": "delivery context (d) or show- or station-level selection only", "2": "one family beyond delivery context (a, b or c)", "3": "two families documented", "4": "three or four families documented from vendor documentation only, or two families in operational detail", "5": "three or four families documented in operational detail (how segments or context are defined, refreshed and applied), including family (a)" } }, { "key": "creative", "label": "Creative", "short": "Creative", "definition": "Creative functions the seller offers. Four families: (a) dynamic creative (versions by audience, context, time or sequence, assembled at serve time); (b) host- or personality-read programmes with a documented process or scale; (c) synthetic voice ad production with documented controls (voice consent, disclosure, approval); (d) in-house audio creative production or interactive and companion formats. A synthetic voice offer without documented controls counts as family (d), not (c).", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the seller accepts only finished spots and offers no creative function, or a regulator or court finding against its creative practice", "1": "published specifications for advertiser-supplied spots only", "2": "one family documented", "3": "two families documented", "4": "three or four families from vendor documentation only, or two in operational detail", "5": "three or four families documented in operational detail, with controls documented for any synthetic voice offered" } }, { "key": "measurement", "label": "Measurement and attribution functionality", "short": "Measure", "definition": "Measurement functions integrated into the product. Four components: (a) delivery counting to a stated standard (for podcasts the IAB Tech Lab guidelines, with client-confirmed plays where offered; for streams, served or client-confirmed impressions; for broadcast, the named audience estimate); (b) an attribution method disclosed with match level (IP, household, device or person) and match rate or lookback; (c) brand lift or incrementality with a control group, available as an integrated function; (d) third-party measurement integrations documented as working integrations. A partner's name alone is n/e. Assurance of the counting chain is scored in counting_assurance, not here.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that no delivery reporting is provided, or a public restatement or finding of materially wrong counts", "1": "delivery reporting only, no attribution or lift", "2": "attribution or lift available only through a partner, with the integration documented", "3": "two components documented", "4": "three or four components from vendor documentation only, or two in operational detail including (c)", "5": "three or four components in operational detail, including (b) with match level stated and (c) with the control-group design described" } }, { "key": "optimisation", "label": "Optimisation and outcome buying", "short": "Optimise", "definition": "Whether a buyer can buy against an outcome and the product optimises in flight. Four components: (a) an outcome objective other than delivery (visits, conversions, installs, reach at a frequency); (b) automated in-flight optimisation toward it; (c) pacing and frequency controls; (d) reported results with the method stated (design, comparator, period).", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that inventory is sold only as fixed placements that cannot be optimised in flight (for example baked-in only) and no outcome objective", "1": "delivery guarantees and basic pacing only", "2": "optimisation only through a partner DSP or tool, with the integration documented", "3": "pacing and frequency controls with manual optimisation toward a reported outcome, or an outcome objective in beta", "4": "(a), (b) and (c) from vendor documentation only, or (a) and (b) in operational detail", "5": "components (a), (b) and (c) documented in operational detail, plus (d) for at least one result" }, "anchors_by_cohort": { "adtech": { "0": "a source documents that the service offers no delivery or yield controls", "1": "pacing only", "2": "one of those, or yield optimisation only through a partner with the integration documented", "3": "two of those documented", "4": "three or four of those from vendor documentation only, or two in operational detail", "5": "three or four of: avails forecasting, pacing and frequency capping in the ad server, yield or floor optimisation across direct and programmatic demand, outcome optimisation exposed to buyers, each in operational detail" } } }, { "key": "workflow", "label": "Buyer workflow", "short": "Workflow", "definition": "How a buyer plans, buys and reports. Three components: (a) a self-serve buying interface; (b) a public API for campaign management or reporting; (c) reporting export (file, scheduled or log-level). Managed service and insertion orders are the baseline.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the product is closed to new buyers", "1": "managed service or insertion order only, reports on request", "2": "managed service with a documented reporting portal", "3": "one of (a) or (b), plus (c)", "4": "all three from vendor documentation without public API documentation, or two with public API documentation", "5": "all three components, with public developer documentation for the API" }, "anchors_by_cohort": { "adtech": { "0": "a source documents that the service is closed to new customers", "1": "managed service only, reports on request", "2": "managed service with a documented reporting portal", "3": "a console or an API, plus reporting export", "4": "console, API and export from vendor documentation without public API documentation, or two with public API documentation", "5": "a customer console, a public API with developer documentation, and reporting export, plus documented integrations with hosting or content systems" } } }, { "key": "inventory_scale", "label": "Inventory scale", "short": "Scale", "definition": "Owned and represented audio inventory, with the metric and period named. Scored on one of three metrics, whichever the most recent period before the cutoff documents best: monthly US audience (unique listeners, users or persons reached per month); monthly downloads, ad deliveries or impressions (never mixed with each other or with audience); or owned or represented US broadcast stations. Annual figures are divided by 12 (a derived value, recorded). Lower bounds are inclusive. US figures are used where published; a global-only figure is scored on the same thresholds but capped at 4 and marked global. Represented supply is counted once, at the representing seller. Quality belongs to transparency.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the seller holds no audio inventory (exited or sold)", "1": "below 2 million monthly US audience, below 10 million monthly deliveries, or fewer than 10 stations", "2": "2 to under 10 million; or 10 to under 50 million; or 10 to 49 stations", "3": "10 to under 50 million; or 50 to under 300 million; or 50 to 199 stations", "4": "50 to under 100 million monthly US audience; or 300 million to under 1 billion monthly deliveries; or 200 to 499 stations", "5": "100 million or more monthly US audience; or 1 billion or more monthly downloads, ad deliveries or impressions; or 500 or more US stations" }, "anchors_by_cohort": { "adtech": { "0": "a source documents that the service has been shut down or serves no customers", "1": "below 20 million, below 200 shows, or fewer than 20 publishers or stations", "2": "20 to under 200 million; or 200 to 1,999 shows; or 20 to 99 publishers or stations", "3": "200 million to under 1 billion; or 2,000 to 19,999 shows; or 100 to 499 publishers or stations", "4": "1 to under 5 billion; or 20,000 to 99,999 shows; or 500 to 1,999 publishers or stations", "5": "5 billion or more monthly ad requests, impressions or downloads served; or 100,000 or more shows hosted; or 2,000 or more publishers or stations served" } } }, { "key": "channel_breadth", "label": "Channel breadth", "short": "Channels", "definition": "How many of five audio channels the product sells (sellers) or supports (adtech): broadcast radio and its streams, satellite radio, streaming music and digital radio, podcasts, in-game audio. Devices are recorded separately and not scored. Video-podcast inventory counts only where it is sold as audio.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the product has exited audio", "1": "one channel with one delivery method", "2": "one channel with two or more delivery methods or content formats within it (for example podcast downloads and in-app streams, or music and talk streams)", "3": "two channels", "4": "three channels", "5": "four or five channels" } }, { "key": "programmatic", "label": "Programmatic access", "short": "Prog.", "definition": "Whether and how the inventory or service can be bought programmatically. Components: named DSP integrations (counted), VAST 4.x support, OpenRTB audio object support (2.5 or later), and deal types offered (programmatic guaranteed, private marketplace, open auction). Agentic protocol states (shared rule 12) are recorded in the evidence as fields and earn no points here.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the inventory is sold direct only", "1": "programmatic availability claimed with no named integration or deal type", "2": "programmatic only through a third-party SSP or exchange, with the integration documented", "3": "one or two named DSPs, or at least two deal types through a named exchange", "4": "three or more named DSPs, VAST 4.x or OpenRTB audio support documented, and at least two deal types", "5": "five or more named DSP integrations, VAST 4.x and OpenRTB audio support documented, and all three deal types, in operational detail" } }, { "key": "us_coverage", "label": "US availability and coverage", "short": "US", "definition": "Documented US availability and coverage only. National means inventory reachable across the US (satellite, streaming, podcast, or broadcast stations in 100 or more Nielsen Audio markets). International breadth is recorded as an attribute and earns no points.", "anchors": { "0": "a source documents that the product is not available in the US", "1": "US availability mentioned incidentally, or stations in 1 or 2 markets", "2": "US buyers can reach it only through a programmatic partner, or stations in 3 to 9 markets", "3": "US availability through a US office or representative for part of the inventory, or broadcast stations in 10 to 49 markets", "4": "national US coverage from vendor documentation only, or broadcast stations in 50 to 99 Nielsen Audio markets", "5": "national US coverage with a US sales operation, documented in a filing or official record" }, "anchors_by_cohort": { "adtech": { "0": "a source documents that the service is not available to US customers", "1": "US availability mentioned incidentally", "2": "US customers served only through a reseller or partner, with the arrangement documented", "3": "available to US customers, US customer base not documented", "4": "available to US customers with named US customers, from vendor documentation only", "5": "available to US customers with a documented US customer base and US operations, in a filing or official record" } } }, { "key": "counting_assurance", "label": "Counting assurance", "short": "Assurance", "definition": "Assurance of the counting chain actually used for the scored inventory and metric: IAB Tech Lab podcast measurement compliance for podcast delivery, MRC accreditation where relevant (for example streaming or broadcast audience measurement), verified in the issuing body's own record with its certified scope and the documented integration. Current means listed in the issuing body's record at the freeze and within the validity period it states (IAB Tech Lab's Compliance Guide v2.3 states 12 months for podcast measurement), or dated within the 24 months before the cutoff where the body states none. A listing past its stated validity with no status shown is not current; a lapse is documented only where the record itself shows Expired or Suspended. Whether the seller owns the certified system is recorded separately and neither adds nor removes credit. A partner logo alone is n/e. An audit in progress counts only when the accreditor confirms it.", "anchors": { "0": "the issuing body's record itself shows a lapse, expiry, withdrawal, suspension or failed audit", "1": "a vendor claim of compliance that the issuing body's record, checked on a stated date, does not show", "2": "counting through a certified third-party system, integration documented, but the certified scope does not cover the metric the product sells on", "3": "a certification in the issuing body's record that is not current: to a superseded guideline version, or past the body's stated validity period with no current status shown; or an audit in progress confirmed by the accreditor", "4": "the same, covering at least one but not all scored channels, or with the integration documented only by the vendor", "5": "current certification or accreditation in the issuing body's record whose scope covers the primary counting metric of all scored channels, with the integration documented" } }, { "key": "transparency", "label": "Transparency and inventory quality", "short": "Transp.", "definition": "What a buyer can see and check. Four components: (a) show-, station- or app-level delivery reporting to buyers; (b) supply-path disclosure (sellers.json, ads.txt or app-ads.txt, SupplyChain object, owned versus represented supply stated); (c) invalid-traffic filtering disclosed with its method or an independent certification; (d) inventory quality attributes disclosed (ad load, listen-through or completion rates, content categories).", "anchors": { "0": "a regulator, court or industry body finding of misreported inventory or invalid traffic", "1": "a sellers.json or ads.txt entry observed and nothing else", "2": "one component documented beyond a sellers.json or ads.txt entry", "3": "two components documented", "4": "three or four components from vendor documentation only, or two in operational detail", "5": "three or four components in operational detail, including (c) with a named method or independent certification" } }, { "key": "brand_safety", "label": "Brand safety and suitability", "short": "Safety", "definition": "Controls a buyer can apply to the content around an ad. Components: (a) episode- or content-level classification (transcript-based or equivalent); (b) show- or station-level allow and block lists; (c) a suitability framework with named categories and risk levels; (d) third-party verification integrated (named verifier with the integration documented).", "anchors": { "0": "a regulator or court finding against the product's content controls, or a source documenting that no content controls are offered", "1": "genre or category exclusions only", "2": "show- or station-level exclusions only, or third-party verification through a partner with the integration documented", "3": "(b) plus one of (a), (c) or (d)", "4": "(a) and (d) from vendor documentation only, or (a) with (b) and (c) in operational detail", "5": "(a) and (d), plus (b) or (c), in operational detail" } } ], "peer_groups": [ { "key": "radio", "label": "Radio groups", "definition": "Sellers whose largest documented revenue channel is broadcast or satellite radio, including their streams, podcasts and digital offers." }, { "key": "digital", "label": "Streaming and podcast sellers", "definition": "Sellers whose largest documented revenue channel is streaming audio or podcasts, including represented supply." }, { "key": "ingame", "label": "In-game audio sellers", "definition": "Sellers of audio ads inside games; visual in-game placements belong to the gaming paper." }, { "key": "adtech", "label": "Audio ad technology", "definition": "Separately supplied hosting, insertion, ad-serving, exchange or SSP services." } ], "cohorts": [ { "key": "sellers", "label": "A. Audio inventory sellers", "definition": "Services selling audio inventory the seller owns or contractually represents: radio groups whatever their digital share, streaming and podcast sellers, and in-game audio sellers. Compared on the job of a buyer placing audio ads with the seller.", "applicable": [ "targeting", "creative", "measurement", "optimisation", "workflow", "inventory_scale", "channel_breadth", "programmatic", "us_coverage", "counting_assurance", "transparency", "brand_safety" ], "banded": true }, { "key": "adtech", "label": "B. Audio ad technology", "definition": "Separately supplied hosting, insertion, ad-serving, exchange or SSP services. Compared on the job of a publisher or buyer licensing the service to serve, insert, sell or buy audio ads. Creative is outside the mask: producing ad creative is not part of what these services supply, and insertion mechanics are scored under measurement, optimisation and workflow.", "applicable": [ "targeting", "measurement", "optimisation", "workflow", "inventory_scale", "channel_breadth", "programmatic", "us_coverage", "counting_assurance", "transparency", "brand_safety" ], "banded": true } ], "cohorts_note": "Each cohort lists its applicable dimensions (the mask). Cohort A (sellers) uses all twelve; cohort B (adtech) uses eleven, with creative outside the mask. Each shows bands only if six or more of its rows are band-eligible. Dimensions with anchors_by_cohort use those anchors for cohort B; all others use the same anchors in both cohorts. Evidence caps apply after the anchor: vendor documentation caps a cell at 4, vendor marketing at 3.", "row_order": [], "matrix_title": "The capability matrix", "matrix_note": "Each cell is a 0 to 5 score against the dimension's published anchors, bounded by its evidence grade, or n/e where the opened record gives no basis to score, or n/a where the dimension is outside the cohort's mask. Open a cell to see its sources, date, grade and verification status. Rows are compared only within their cohort.", "matrix_foot": "", "composite_index": { "used": true, "name": "Listen Quotient (LQ)", "added": "2026-09-28, before any product was scored, under shared research rules v3 for the attention, audio and gaming papers. The dimensions, anchors, masks and weights were fixed before any evidence was collected.", "groups": { "Depth": { "label": "Depth", "meaning": "What the product does for a buyer: targeting, creative, measurement, optimisation and workflow.", "dims": [ "targeting", "creative", "measurement", "optimisation", "workflow" ] }, "Reach": { "label": "Reach", "meaning": "Where and through which routes it can place audio ads: scale, channels, programmatic access and US coverage.", "dims": [ "inventory_scale", "channel_breadth", "programmatic", "us_coverage" ] }, "Standing": { "label": "Standing", "meaning": "Whether a buyer can inspect and trust it: counting assurance, transparency and brand safety.", "dims": [ "counting_assurance", "transparency", "brand_safety" ] } }, "weights": { "Depth": 0.45, "Reach": 0.25, "Standing": 0.3 }, "field_mean_method": "raw_mean", "prior_strength": 4, "shrink_alternatives": [ 0, 2, 8 ], "missing_scenario_values": [ 1, 4 ], "missing_envelope_values": [ 0, 5 ], "bands": [ [ "Most documented", 12 ], [ "Well documented", 1 ], [ "Partly documented", -8 ], [ "Least documented", -1000 ] ], "thin_record_min": 6, "cohort_min_banded": 6, "method": "Within each cohort, over its admitted rows (thin rows included; listed and historical products never count): each group score is the mean of the row's counted numeric cells in the group (n/e, n/a and unverified cells skipped, never zero). Raw = 0.45 Depth + 0.25 Reach + 0.30 Standing, renormalised over the groups present. F = the arithmetic mean of the cohort's Raw scores (field_mean_method raw_mean). Shrunk = (k x Raw + K x F) / (k + K), k = the row's counted numeric cells, K = prior strength 4. Quotient = 100 x Shrunk / 5 at full precision; only the displayed value is rounded, halves up. An empty cohort has no quotient.", "reweightings": [ { "name": "Equal thirds", "weights": { "Depth": 0.3333333333333333, "Reach": 0.3333333333333333, "Standing": 0.3333333333333333 } }, { "name": "Depth-led", "weights": { "Depth": 0.6, "Reach": 0.2, "Standing": 0.2 } }, { "name": "Reach-led", "weights": { "Depth": 0.3, "Reach": 0.45, "Standing": 0.25 } }, { "name": "Standing-led", "weights": { "Depth": 0.3, "Reach": 0.2, "Standing": 0.5 } } ], "why_not_a_sum": "A sum counts an unscored dimension as zero and so penalises a thin public record rather than a weak product; a plain average of scored cells rewards missing evidence. Group means plus shrinkage toward the cohort field reduce both effects without removing them: leaving out a low score can still raise a quotient, as the deletion test shows row by row. Band eligibility, which needs six counted cells with one in every group, is a separate guard.", "limits": "The index summarises documented capability, not performance, and inherits the single-scorer limitation. Bands are reported because exact positions depend on the weights.", "bands_rule": "Bands come from the unrounded offset 20 x (Shrunk - F): Most documented at +12 or more, Well documented at +1 or more, Partly documented at -8 or more, Least documented below (named Front rank, Strong, Mid and Narrow until review round 4; the thresholds did not change); equal values share a band. These offsets are the Contextual Quotient's; the field mean F is not (it is the mean Raw of the cohort's admitted rows).", "thin_rule": "A row is band-eligible with k >= thin_record_min and at least one counted cell in every group that applies under the cohort's mask; a row missing a whole applicable group is shown with that group named and no band. Count the eligible rows first: a cohort with fewer than cohort_min_banded of them shows quotients and coverage without bands.", "shrink_rationale": "Prior strength K = 4 is an author-defined heuristic, not a statistical estimator: the dimensions are different capabilities, not repeated measurements of one quantity. The build reruns the index with K = 0 (Raw), 2 and 8 and reports how far positions and bands move.", "missing_rule": "Missing evidence is not neutral. Deletion: each counted cell turned into n/e in turn, recomputing the row's k and eligibility; quotient change, admission loss and eligibility loss are reported separately. Scenarios (not bounds): row by row, with F and every other row frozen, all of the row's applicable n/e cells filled with missing_scenario_values[0], then [1]; a banded row whose band changes under either is flagged band sensitive to missing evidence. Fills of missing_envelope_values are reported separately as a hypothetical full-scale envelope, never used for the flag. Imputed cells never create admission or band eligibility: the row keeps its observed k and eligibility.", "reweighting_rule": "Each reweighting recomputes Raw and F across the fixed cohort." }, "scorer": { "independent_second_scorer": false, "disclosure": "One scoring pass by the author's research process, applied after the verifier records were read; facts were adversarially verified, scores were not independently re-scored. No inter-rater statistic exists." }, "scoring_conventions": { "fixed": "2026-09-29, before the scoring pass; applied in the scoring pass and in the cross-row calibration pass (corrections ledger SC-01). C9 restates the counting-assurance clarification of 29 September 2026 (R2-02). The last sentence of C12 was added on 30 September 2026 in response to review round 3 (R3-04) and applied to every brand_safety cell.", "items": [ { "id": "C1", "rule": "Score against the dimension anchors (anchors_by_cohort for adtech where given; creative is outside the adtech mask), then apply the evidence cap: grade C caps at 4, grade D at 3; grades A and B are uncapped. The grade is that of the source the level actually rests on." }, { "id": "C2", "rule": "Use the verifier's corrected reading. Where a verifier qualified or contradicted a cell, or flagged an anchor overstatement, the verifier's reading is adopted unless the verifier's own additional sources support a higher one." }, { "id": "C3", "rule": "Verification status: verified if the verifier record checked the cell (or the finding it rests on) and found it supported as stated; qualified if supported with qualification, or rescored from what the verifier says the source says; unverified if no verifier check covers it. Unverified cells are shown but count as n/e." }, { "id": "C4", "rule": "Maturity and currency: a capability whose only evidence is an announcement, a source dated before 2 October 2024 (24 months before the registered cutoff of 2 October 2026) with nothing showing it is still offered, or an unconfirmed availability, is n/e. Scored cells carry live or beta availability only." }, { "id": "C5", "rule": "Targeting: the four families are counted as defined; show- or station-level selection is not family (a); blank template fields on an insertion order are not documented functions." }, { "id": "C6", "rule": "Adtech optimisation: pacing and frequency capping together are one item." }, { "id": "C7", "rule": "us_coverage (sellers): streaming or podcast inventory counts as national only where the seller documents selling it nationally; otherwise broadcast market counts are scored. Anchor 5 needs national coverage and a US sales operation documented in a filing or official record (round 2, R2-09)." }, { "id": "C8", "rule": "inventory_scale: metric and period named; US figures preferred; a global-only figure is capped at 4; marketing figures are grade D; represented supply counted once, at the representing seller; network affiliates count as represented stations only where a filing says the seller sells network inventory across them; downloads, impressions and audience are never mixed." }, { "id": "C9", "rule": "counting_assurance: an IAB Tech Lab podcast listing is current only if last certified on or after 2 October 2025 (the Compliance Guide's 12-month term, counted back from the registered cutoff of 2 October 2026); an older listing with no status shown reads at anchor 3; 0 only where the issuing body's own record shows a lapse, expiry, suspension, withdrawal or hiatus for the counting system the row uses. MRC-accredited Nielsen Audio PPM covers only its accredited markets, so partial market coverage of a broadcast channel is at most anchor 4; the Nielsen Audio Diary service has been on hiatus since 23 June 2026. OM SDK compliance and TAG seals are not counting assurance. The integration must be documented; owned or third-party makes no difference." }, { "id": "C10", "rule": "channel_breadth: only the five audio channels count; ad-unit types are not delivery methods; video podcasts do not count." }, { "id": "C11", "rule": "programmatic: named DSP integrations documented for the row (rail-side or DSP-side documentation), VAST 4.x and OpenRTB audio support, and deal types are counted. Agentic protocol states earn nothing." }, { "id": "C12", "rule": "brand_safety: a seller's own curation is not a buyer-applied allow or block list; a partner name alone is n/e; C4 applies to old announcements; third-party verification counts only where it verifies the content around the ad (viewability, invalid-traffic or OM SDK measurement alone does not)." }, { "id": "C13", "rule": "transparency: a sellers.json or ads.txt entry alone is anchor 1." }, { "id": "C14", "rule": "No inheritance: a parent's, sibling's or partner's function counts for a row only where the row's own documentation or terms describe it as part of the row's service; functions supplied only through another row score at most the anchor for a partner integration with the integration documented." }, { "id": "C15", "rule": "Every numeric cell cites at least one registered source id and a date (the latest source it rests on); n/e cells cite the sources searched where possible." }, { "id": "C16", "rule": "Each cell's rationale states what is documented, the anchor it meets, the cap, and any convention used." } ] } }