Cedara x Pixability Discuss: New Media Sustainability Standards

Pixability met with Cedara’s COO, Eric Shih, to talk through a highly exciting and important update to AdNetZero’s Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) – the introduction of GMSF version 1.2.

Zoe Zimman: Thanks so much for joining us today, Eric! To start us off, can you walk us through what exactly the GMSF is, and the significance of these new GMSF standards, v1.2?

Eric Shih: Thanks for having me! So a little background on the GMSF. It was introduced by AdNetZero in June 2024, and was really designed to be a global standard for measuring carbon emissions across all media channels. The first channels introduced into the framework were digital, which includes open web, social, and search. Additional channels include TV (broadcast and CTV), and both digital and physical out of home advertising. 

As for version 1.2, this is the latest version of the framework, released in Cannes Lions this past June. This version makes significant updates mainly across digital channels. Many of these updates include what we call standardized default values (or “data hacks” as they’re called in the working groups). Really, these are fallback values or estimates that can be used when actual data is not available for measurement. We’ve also introduced a new hierarchy of different accuracy tiers, which encourages companies in the space to provide actual data for measurement versus relying on these fallback values or other proxies. And I think the last big update in this framework is that there are improvements to the general formulas that are being used in the measurement process.

Zoe Zimman: So exciting! I’d love to hear more about Cedara’s partnership with Pixability. Specifically, how have you partnered with us on the GMSF overall, and for this updated framework, how can we be the best partner in implementing these new standards? 

Eric Shih: Sure! We’ve been partnered with Pixability for a couple of years now to measure and work on optimizing the emissions from each of Pixability’s campaigns and clients. We started off the partnership using industry standards, even preceding GMSF. Then, last year, we moved all of Pixability’s campaigns to GMSF. And now, we’re really proud to announce that we were, together, the first two companies to implement version 1.2 of GMSF at a global level. 

Really, the first campaign that was measured using this version of the framework was for Pixability’s client, Epson, as well as their media agency, MediaPlus UK. Moving forward, all Pixability campaigns will be compliant with the updated version of the GMSF v1.2 framework.

Zoe Zimman: Amazing! Can we talk a bit about how GMSF really is going to change platforms like YouTube, which is obviously Pixability’s specialty?

Eric Shih: Well one benefit of this new version of GMSF is it gets into more granularity to help differentiate emissions by different types of digital buys and channels. So for example, in the past, GMSF was really focused on the open web. But now there’s more granularity, so they’re breaking out things like programmatic media versus social versus direct buys for publishers. Ultimately, the framework provides those different default values that I referenced when contributed data is not available for each different channel. Therefore, we’re now able to distinguish the efficiencies of these channels with greater ease using this framework.

In our measurement with Pixability, we’ve been able to demonstrate that YouTube is significantly more sustainable than other channels, such as programmatic, given the new formulas and technology default values we were able to introduce, as well as contributed data we use in the measurement process. 

Zoe Zimman: We’re so proud to be part of a platform that is achieving so much in the realm of sustainability. For the future of GMSF, where do you see it going, and where do you hope for it to get to in terms of our partnership, and for the media industry in general?

Eric Shih: So the great thing about the GMSF is that it will always be sort of a work in progress. The industry’s constantly trying to improve it accuracy-wise. As a preview, the next version of GMSF is called version 1.3 (of course), slated to be released before the end of this year. In this update, we anticipate the additional rollout of new media channels – so the operational rollout of things like audio, which includes broadcast radio, as well as digital audio, and print. 

We’re working closely with the working groups helping to define these ever-evolving standards, and we’re really excited to collaborate with the industry, improve the framework, and ultimately work with partners like yourselves to ensure that rolling out the latest versions, and ultimately being fully compliant as the industry evolves. 

Zoe Zimman: Love that mentality of ever-adapting – that’s something we can definitely relate to here at Pixability. Thanks so much for joining us!