IAB Categories List

Cooking, recipes, eating out and drinks, including diets such as vegan and vegetarian. Sites about alcoholic drinks also sit here.

Everyday wellbeing rather than medicine: exercise, nutrition, weight loss and health topics for specific groups such as seniors or children.

Everything about the home itself: decorating, renovation, appliances, gardening and smart home devices.

Parenting, marriage, dating, divorce, caring for older relatives and life after loss. A natural home for parenting blogs and advice columns.

Milestones people plan for: weddings, birthdays, graduations, baby showers and funerals. Strong intent signals for many advertisers.

Clothing, beauty, personal care and body art, split by audience and by style from street wear to high fashion.

Pastimes from crafts and collecting to genealogy, magic, birdwatching and model building. Many niche communities land here.

Living with animals: dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, adoption, supplies and veterinary care.

Planning and taking trips: destinations, types of travel, preparation advice and accessories. Booking and guide sites usually fit here.

Places people go to: theme parks, museums, zoos, parks, nightlife, casinos and theatres as venues.

National and civic holidays and the content around them. Small branch, mostly used for seasonal campaigns.

World religions, belief and non-belief, spiritual practice and astrology. Several rows are flagged as sensitive data.

The corporate side of money: companies, industries, the economy, business banking and investment. One of the deepest branches, with many tier 4 leaves.

Money from the household view: banking, insurance, debt, taxes, investing and retirement planning.

The act of buying: deals, coupons, groceries, gifts, toys, party supplies and seasonal shopping. Retail sites often carry it alongside a product topic.

Buying, selling and renting property, from apartments and houses to office, retail, industrial and holiday property.

Cars and other vehicles: buying, insurance, repair, parts, safety, body styles and car culture. Detailed enough for most automotive campaigns.

Finding and building a job: job search, career advice, remote work, apprenticeships and vocational training.

Movies, music and television as subjects: news, reviews, fan sites and streaming guides.

The style of a programme rather than its subject, such as Comedy, Drama or Documentary. Mostly used for video, audio and CTV. Version 3.1 adds Thriller.

Celebrity news, gossip, celebrity style and humour or satire sites.

Games on console, PC and mobile, eSports, and a set of game genres from strategy to role-playing.

Individual sports from soccer and cricket to darts and rodeo, plus fantasy sports, college sports and equipment. The widest list of tier 2 rows.

Fiction, poetry, comics and books about art and photography. Covers review sites and reading communities.

The arts as a practice: dance, opera, theatre, design, digital art and photography as art form.

Organised happenings rather than places: award shows, business expos and conferences, fan conventions.

Learning at every stage: early childhood to college, adult and online education, homeschooling, languages and special education.

The natural sciences and earth sciences, including space, genetics, environment and weather.

Medicine and treatment: diseases and conditions, drugs, surgery, tests and vaccines. Many rows carry the sensitive data flag.

Computing, software, consumer electronics and newer fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and virtual reality.

Elections, civic affairs and policy debates. Many brands treat it carefully, so it often appears in suitability settings.

Legal topics and information. A single row with no children in version 3.

Coverage of crime and criminal cases. A single row, often reviewed in suitability rules.

Natural and man-made disasters and their coverage. A common choice for temporary exclusions during major events.

Armed conflict and its coverage. A single row in the tree, separate from sensitive military content rules.

Content many advertisers avoid, such as explicit material, hate speech, terrorism, piracy, profanity and harmful content. Mainly used to build exclusion lists.

In 3.0 a tier 4 row under computer software. The published 3.1 file lists it without a parent, so it shows up as a top-level entry there.