# 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.

[6 Coordinate](/category/coordinate/) [Agentic Advertising Management Protocols](/protocols/aamp/) · [5 Act](/category/act/) [Ad Context Protocol](/protocols/adcp/)

|  | [Agentic Advertising Management Protocols](/protocols/aamp/) AAMP | [Ad Context Protocol](/protocols/adcp/) 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://github.com/IABTechLab/AAMP) | [https://docs.adcontextprotocol.org/](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.

Guidance is derived from the two records (question, status, implementation, prerequisites, pairings), not from opinion. Each record's page carries its numbered references.

## Read the full articles

- [Agentic Advertising Management Protocols](/protocols/aamp/): 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](/protocols/adcp/): How can an AI agent discover ad inventory, execute a media buy, sync creative, and report performance across many ad platforms through one protocol?

Ask the MCP server to compare any two: the compare-protocols prompt, or get on both ids. [Connect](/connect/).

[aamp.json](/data/protocols/aamp.json) · [adcp.json](/data/protocols/adcp.json) · [Markdown](/compare/aamp-vs-adcp/index.md)