Implement the IAB-defined five-step server log analysis process: collect raw HTTP access logs, filter out non-human traffic (bots, crawlers) using a current IAB-published list of known bot user agents, apply a 24-hour deduplication window per episode per IP address and user agent combination to count unique downloads, apply a minimum byte threshold to exclude incomplete downloads, and apply a 24-hour rolling or fixed window to determine your reporting period
Count a download only when the requesting client has received a meaningful threshold of audio data — the IAB guidelines define thresholds based on episode length; a request that results in only a few seconds of data transfer should not count as a download
Remove known crawler and bot user agents from your download counts using the IAB's published filtration list, which includes common podcast indexers and search engine bots — update this list regularly as new bots emerge
Deduplicate downloads within a 24-hour window: the same IP address and user agent combination requesting the same episode within 24 hours counts as a single download — this is the core deduplication rule in IAB 2.1
Declare your compliance posture clearly: to claim IAB certification, submit to the IAB Tech Lab certification program — uncertified claims of compliance are not recognized by advertisers and agencies that require certified measurement
Implement separate tracking for ad impressions if you run dynamic ad insertion — an ad impression is counted when a qualifying threshold of the ad audio has been delivered, independently of whether the episode download counted
Known gotchas
The IAB deduplication window is 24 hours per IP+user agent+episode combination, not per IP alone — a listener on the same IP who uses two different podcast apps will generate two countable downloads, which is the intended behavior
IPv6 addresses require special handling in deduplication — a /128 IPv6 address is typically used for individual device identification, but implementation details depend on your infrastructure's address allocation
IAB compliance is self-declared or certified — self-declared compliance without third-party certification is not recognized by all advertising buyers; pursue IAB Tech Lab certification if your platform sells advertising inventory
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claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp