How Lumotraq measures ad carbon

Q: What data sources does Lumotraq use?

Three categories of input: live energy grid data covering more than 45 countries — across Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil — ad-tech infrastructure benchmarks, and Lumotraq's own browser-side detection patterns.

Q: How is Lumotraq's methodology different from competitors?

Most ad-carbon measurement today is either top-down modelled (campaign-level averages), supply-chain aggregated (depends on vendor cooperation across the ad-tech stack), or activity-based and licensed from a single reseller. Lumotraq measures bottom-up per ad impression — delivery-path weighted to cover the media supply chain end-to-end. The result is Scope 3 advertising data that supports a company's CSRD reporting obligations.

Pursuing alignment with Ad Net Zero (GMSF v1.3), GHG Protocol, IAB Tech Lab.

Lumotraq measures the carbon footprint of digital ads at per-impression resolution — each ad you see, weighted by the local energy grid and the ad-tech delivery path that brought it to your browser. The methodology is pursuing alignment with Ad Net Zero's Global Media Sustainability Framework, the GHG Protocol Scope 3 reporting framework, and IAB Tech Lab measurement guidelines.

The carbon impact chain — and why we measure instead of block

The 5-stage carbon chain of a digital ad — device → network → ad-tech servers → CDN → publisher

Five-stage carbon impact chain diagram showing where ad emissions originate from device to network to ad-tech to CDN to publisher

What Lumotraq measures

Display ad impressions on the surfaces you visit

Video ad impressions including pre-roll, mid-roll and in-feed

Ad-tech delivery-path energy across servers and exchanges

CDN and publisher infrastructure energy

On-device rendering energy during the ad's visible lifetime

What it doesn't measure

Ad creative production — filming, design and agency labour

Agency operational emissions — offices, travel, hardware

End-user travel inspired by the ad

Downstream emissions from the purchased product or service

What Lumotraq measures — and what it doesn't

Lumotraq is deliberately scoped. Here's what the measurement covers today, and what isn't in scope yet.

In scope: display ads, video ads, social-media ads on major platforms, streaming-page ads, audio and podcast browser surfaces, in-game browser surfaces.

Out of scope: digital out-of-home (DOOH), connected-TV native apps, linear and broadcast television, print, brand-safety scoring.

How Lumotraq measures, step by step

Six measurement steps run on every ad impression — from initial detection in your browser to audit-ready export.

1. Detect

Lumotraq's lightweight browser extension recognises ad impressions across the major social and content platforms plus the major publisher domains your browser visits.

2. Locate energy intensity

For each impression, current energy grid data is matched to the country in which the ad loaded.

3. Estimate delivery path

Public ad-tech infrastructure benchmarks are applied to model the energy used between the ad-tech request and the user's browser.

4. Calculate

The per-impression CO₂e is computed in grams and stored against the user's Score.

5. Aggregate

Impressions are grouped into channels, campaigns, and a personal Score so emissions concentrations are visible.

6. Export

Audit-ready Scope 3 advertising data is exported in formats accepted by CSRD reporting tools (B2B Work and B2B Work Insight tiers).

Per-impression CO₂e values

Lumotraq's per-impression measurement averages compared to industry top-down estimates per 1,000 impressions.

A single display ad emits roughly 0.84g CO₂e and a video ad about 1.24g. These are averages aligned with Ad Net Zero's Global Media Sustainability Framework — actual values depend on the energy grid where the impression was served, the ad-tech delivery path, and the ad format itself.

0.84g display + 1.24g video — per-impression baseline values

Per-impression CO2 comparison bar chart: Lumotraq display 0.84g, video 1.24g, industry average around 670g per 1,000 impressions

Format

Per-impression CO₂e

Notes

Display ad (Lumotraq median)

0.84 g

Weighted by surface, format and market

Video ad (Lumotraq median)

1.24 g

Pre-roll, mid-roll and in-feed

Industry top-down average

~0.67 g

~670 g per 1,000 impressions, blended formats

Data sources

Energy grid data

Energy grid data covering more than 45 countries — across Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil.

Ad-tech infrastructure

Public benchmarks for data-centre efficiency and per-provider modelling across the major hyperscale providers.

Browser-side detection

Lumotraq's own detection patterns running locally in your browser — no third-party data brokers in the loop.

Standards & alignment

Lumotraq is built to align with the three measurement frameworks most commonly required for sustainability reporting.

Pursuing alignment with

Ad Net Zero — Global Media Sustainability Framework v1.3

Pursuing alignment with

GHG Protocol — Scope 3 reporting framework

Pursuing alignment with

IAB Tech Lab — measurement guidelines

How Lumotraq's methodology compares to other measurement approaches

Three alternative approaches dominate ad-carbon measurement today. Each has trade-offs Lumotraq's per-impression model addresses.

Approach

How it works

Trade-off

Top-down modelled

Industry-average emission factors applied per dollar spent or per thousand impressions.

Cannot attribute emissions to a specific campaign or surface.

Supply-chain aggregated

Depends on vendor cooperation across the ad-tech stack to disclose their own emissions.

Coverage gaps wherever any link in the chain doesn't report.

Activity-based (single reseller)

Emission factors licensed from a single third-party data reseller.

Vendor lock-in and opaque methodology behind the reseller's numbers.

Bottom-up per impression (Lumotraq)

Every impression is detected, geolocated and calculated individually, delivery-path weighted.

Auditable per-campaign and per-domain results that trace back to per-impression inputs.

Frequently asked questions

How does Lumotraq measure ad carbon?

Lumotraq detects display and video ad impressions as they load in your browser, then weights each impression by the local energy grid at that moment, the ad-tech delivery path, and the ad format. The result is a per-impression CO₂e value computed individually — averaging 0.84g for display and 1.24g for video.

What is Scope 3 advertising emissions?

Scope 3 emissions are indirect CO₂ from a company's value-chain activities. For an advertiser, Scope 3 advertising covers the emissions of every ad impression their campaigns generate — across ad-tech intermediaries, publisher servers, content delivery, and the consumer's browser.

Which standards does Lumotraq align with?

Lumotraq is pursuing alignment with Ad Net Zero's Global Media Sustainability Framework, the GHG Protocol Scope 3 reporting framework, and IAB Tech Lab measurement guidelines.

What data sources does Lumotraq use?

Three categories of input: energy grid data covering more than 45 countries — across Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil — ad-tech infrastructure benchmarks and Lumotraq's own detection patterns.

How is Lumotraq's methodology different from competitors?

Most ad-carbon measurement today is either top-down modeled (averages applied to all campaigns), supply-chain aggregated (depends on vendor cooperation across the ad-tech stack), or licensed from a single reseller. Lumotraq measures bottom-up per impression in the browser — each display and video ad you actually see, with local grid and delivery-path weighting. The result is audit-ready Scope 3 advertising data your CSRD reporting team can defend.