IAB Taxonomy Mapper (2.x → 3.0)

Instantly upgrade your taxonomies to IAB 3.0. Ensure contextual targeting, brand safety, and compliance across adtech and media platforms.

Catalogs: IAB Content Taxonomy 3.1 + 2.2 (last updated: 2025-09-01)

Why migrate to IAB 3.0?

IAB 2.x has ~400 categories; IAB 3.0 expands to 1,500+.

Migration is mandatory for contextual targeting, brand safety, and supply chain compliance.

Manual mapping is slow and risky — errors mean lost revenue and failed ad approvals.

Mixpeek’s mapper automates the process in seconds.

Official standard: IAB Tech Lab – Content Taxonomy

How Mapping & Exports Work

Upload 2.x data

Upload CSV or JSON with IAB 2.x category codes.

Automatic mapping

We map to IAB 3.0 and add confidence scores.

Export results

CSV/JSON + OpenRTB content.cat + VAST ContentCategory.

Example: upload → mapping → export

Confidence

How we score: exact match > fuzzy string > semantic similarity. Use confidence to set thresholds for exports.

SCD

Sensitive Content Designation surfaced; optionally exclude in export.

Product proof

Screenshots and outputs so you know exactly what you’ll get.

Input CSV (IAB 2.x)

code,label
IAB2-1,Arts & Entertainment
IAB2-3,Autos & Vehicles
IAB2-44,News & Politics
IAB2-18,Family & Parenting

Mapped table (IAB 3.0)

2.x code	3.0 id	3.0 label	confidence	SCD	OpenRTB cat[]
IAB2-1	3-5-2	Arts & Entertainment	0.98	No	["3-5-2"]
IAB2-44	1026	News & Politics	0.91	Yes	["1026"]
IAB2-3	1068	Automotive	0.96	No	["1068"]

> 50 unmapped? Get a free 15-min taxonomy audit.

OpenRTB (example)

{
  "content": {
    "cat": ["3-5-2","1026","1068"],
    "cattax": "2"
  }
}

VAST (example)

<![CDATA["3-5-2","1026","1068"]]>

Migration guide Long-form video: Taxonomies guide

Matching methods & where each adds value

Deterministic → Fuzzy → Semantic (local-first embeddings) → Optional LLM assist. Pick the minimum power needed for your accuracy/coverage goals.

Deterministic (exact)

Direct code/label matches. Fastest and most auditable.

Use when you already have strict mappings
Highest precision; minimal review

iab-mapper input.csv -o mapped.csv --fuzzy-cut 1.0 --max-topics 1

Fuzzy (string similarity)

Catches typos/aliases via normalized string distance.

Improves coverage with a tunable threshold
Great first pass before semantic search

iab-mapper input.csv -o mapped.csv --fuzzy-cut 0.92 --max-topics 3

Local-first

Semantic (embeddings)

Local embeddings to capture near-misses by meaning. Offline-capable.

iab-mapper input.csv -o mapped.json --use-embeddings --emb-cut 0.80 --max-topics 3

Local-first

LLM-assisted suggestions (Ollama)

Runs locally via Ollama for reviewer-friendly rationales and edge cases.

Produces rationale for reviewer sign-off
No external calls; offline-capable with local models

# Start Ollama once
ollama serve

# Pull a local model (example)
ollama pull llama3:8b

# Run with local LLM assist
iab-mapper input.csv -o mapped.json --llm-assist --llm-model llama3:8b --max-topics 3

Use hierarchical taxonomies to enrich content during ingestion or retrieval.

See It in Action

Before (2.x) input

After (3.x) mapped output

FAQs

Is this an official IAB tool?

No. This tool was built by Mixpeek to support interoperability with IAB standards.

Does it support custom categories?

Yes, you can extend results with Mixpeek’s multimodal classifiers for video, audio, and text.

What formats are supported?

CSV and JSON. CLI version also available.

Where can I get the CLI?

GitHub: mixpeek/iab-mapper

Python: pip install iab-mapper | Node: npx @mixpeek/iab-mapper

Ready to Migrate?

Learn more in our IAB Taxonomy Migration Guide.

IAB is a registered trademark of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. This tool is an independent utility built by Mixpeek for compatibility with IAB Content Taxonomy standards; no endorsement implied.