Agentic Advertising Management Protocols (AAMP) vs Ad Context Protocol (AdCP)
The map lists them as complementary: sites and agents commonly implement both. They answer different questions: Agentic Advertising Management Protocols is a step 6 (Coordinate) standard, Ad Context Protocol step 5 (Act), so they are not substitutes.
| Agentic Advertising Management Protocols AAMP | Ad Context Protocol AdCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifecycle step | 6 Coordinate: Talk to another agent | 5 Act: Do something for me |
| Answers | How do a buyer's agent and a seller's agent discover each other's inventory, negotiate terms and hand off a transaction inside the existing ad-tech stack? | How can an AI agent discover ad inventory, execute a media buy, sync creative, and report performance across many ad platforms through one protocol? |
| Governed by | IAB Tech Lab (non-profit standards consortium); Agentic Task Force working group | AgenticAdvertising.org, an industry organization of publishers, platforms, agencies, and technology providers; foundation governance (structure, voting classes, Board composition, spec lifecycle) is set out in the project's CHARTER.md and published at agenticadvertising.org/governance |
| Status (issuer's words) | Active umbrella initiative, current release AAMP 2.3, described by its own authors as 'far more than a single framework' | Active open protocol, current release v3.2.5 |
| Version | AAMP 2.3 (2026-07-30) | v3.2.6 (2026-10-23) |
| Form / transport | endpoint | well-known file |
| Found at | https://registry.iabtechlab.ai/ | /.well-known/adagents.json (publisher) and /.well-known/brand.json (brand/operator) |
| Implementation | multi-implementation — IAB Tech Lab and named partners (AWS, HyperMindZ, Mixpeek, SafeGuard Privacy, Adform) | shipping |
| Evidence | 3 verified | 3 verified, 2 reported |
| Primary use case | Let agents talk to other agents | Let agents discover my API or service |
| Last verified | 2026-10-23 (current) | 2026-10-23 (current) |
| Specification | https://github.com/IABTechLab/AAMP | https://docs.adcontextprotocol.org/ |
When to use which
- Choose Agentic Advertising Management Protocols when your question is “How do a buyer's agent and a seller's agent discover each other's inventory, negotiate terms and hand off a transaction inside the existing ad-tech stack?” and you accept its maturity: status "Active umbrella initiative, current release AAMP 2.3, described by its own authors as 'far more than a single framework'", implementation multi-implementation (IAB Tech Lab and named partners (AWS, HyperMindZ, Mixpeek, SafeGuard Privacy, Adform)).
- Choose Ad Context Protocol when your question is “How can an AI agent discover ad inventory, execute a media buy, sync creative, and report performance across many ad platforms through one protocol?” and you accept its maturity: status "Active open protocol, current release v3.2.5", implementation shipping.
Read the full articles
- Agentic Advertising Management Protocols: How do a buyer's agent and a seller's agent discover each other's inventory, negotiate terms and hand off a transaction inside the existing ad-tech stack?
- Ad Context Protocol: How can an AI agent discover ad inventory, execute a media buy, sync creative, and report performance across many ad platforms through one protocol?