4 risks of working with unaccredited media partners
And why you won’t have to worry with Encore.
As programmatic advertising comes under enhanced scrutiny for the data it collects, and how that data is being used, the value of industry accreditations becomes increasingly clear – they are a sign that your ad spend is in safe hands. This blog explains why Encore’s certifications mean our clients have less to worry about.
Most brands do not have the time to vet the digital media practices of every company they employ, whether that’s an agency, vendor or media partner. However, choosing in haste can be risky. Whether it’s due to inefficiency or a failure to follow best-practice, no business wants to waste money or risk its brand reputation on the wrong kind of advertising. The trust that is placed in a digital partner should come at a premium and now, more than ever, you need robust onboarding processes. This is where industry accreditations play a vital role and do the hard work for you.
At Encore, we appreciate how important it is for our clients to trust in the quality of our work, and to be sure their advertising spend is being used as effectively as possible. That’s why we’re proud of our accreditations from leading industry bodies:
Gold Standard Certified 2.0 by IAB UK – reducing ad fraud, upholding brand safety, improving the advertising experience for consumers and maintaining compliance for data protection.
Brand Safety Certified by TAG – committed to reducing the risk of misplaced digital advertising, thereby upholding brand safety and protecting the integrity of digital advertising.
We have achieved a TAG brand safety certification three years in a row, and we actively promote best practice throughout our network of partners, helping to drive change as members of the IAB UK Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy Advisory committee group.
We believe that maintaining our accreditations is important, but what are the risks of dealing with an unaccredited media partner, and how can we mitigate those risks by following the best-practice that are required for certification?
RISK: Your money may be wasted by ad fraud
Ad fraud is not a new phenomenon, but the problem is growing at an exponential rate. And it doesn’t just negatively impact online revenue, it has equally costly effects on the accuracy of analytics, meaning that programmatic strategy can easily be led astray. According to Statista, roughly $65 billion of investment in programmatic advertising was wasted by ad fraud in 2021. This is expected to rise to $100 billion in losses by 2023.
What does ad fraud look like in 2022? Unfortunately for legitimate businesses, it looks increasingly complex. And it causes damage not just for advertisers and brands, but publishers too. Whether it’s domain spoofing, cookie stuffing, pixel stuffing, ad stacking, ad injection, geomasking or bot traffic – there’s a wide range of tactics that bad actors can use to defraud advertisers.
How does accreditation help?
Encore’s Gold Standard Certified 2.0 status with IAB UK shows that we support a range of mechanisms designed to increase the transparency of ad traffic.
For example, we support the ads.text project designed by IAB Tech Lab. This is a simple, flexible and secure method that publishers and distributors can use to publicly identify the companies that are authorised to sell their digital inventory, using a simple text file attached to a URL. This makes it harder for bad actors to profit from selling counterfeit inventory.
We also subscribe to using published and accessible sellers.json files, which help us to discover the identity of both direct and intermediary sellers of digital advertising. This also enables smaller bid request object sizes, as this information can be cached “offline”, rather than supplied with every bid request. We try to purchase inventory as directly as possible, using the SupplyChain object to consider all sellers and resellers of any bid request in order to maximise transparency for our clients.
By following these guidelines and working with ad verification partners, like Moat by Oracle Advertising, we help to ensure that more of your budget will be spent on authentic ad impressions, rather than wasted on fraudulent activity.
RISK: Your adverts might be displayed in unsuitable locations
There’s no end to the number of sites and environments that are unsafe or unsuitable for your advertising. As previously mentioned, domain spoofing is a major concern for advertisers who do not want to waste their money by bidding for ad space on fake or low-quality websites.
At first glance, these domains or URLs are designed to look reputable. Bad actors attempt to mask unsafe websites by hiding, altering or mismatching the domain where the traffic originates. This allows them to overprice their media space and disguise traffic, especially if their website is hosting illegal or undesirable content. Such websites may also be running phishing schemes. It can be hard to identify when domain spoofing is occurring, particularly when fake clicks driven by bot activity are artificially boosting your click-through-rates.
How does accreditation help?
For Encore, as part of our accredited status, we make sure that all campaigns are run on a bespoke and carefully curated sitelist. And we use pre-bid, demand side platform-level and post-bid ad fraud detection as standard. This means you’ll have guaranteed control over where your ads are seen, with genuine CTRs that have mitigated the risks of bot traffic and domain spoofing.
RISK: Your advertising may not comply with data privacy
The perception of your brand can be significantly influenced by the way your advertising handles cookies and user consent. The majority of web users do not like to feel as if they’re being tracked or spied on, however 69% appreciate personalisation[1], providing they have explicitly granted their permission for data to be used in this way. Respecting the consumer’s privacy is paramount for gaining and maintaining trust.
The EU’s GDPR legislation and similar initiatives have attempted to regulate the use of data, particularly with regard to third-party cookies. There is an increasing desire for data privacy and permissions amongst consumers, and Encore expects to see even more enhanced regulation in this area, but for now – practically speaking – we make a significant effort to lean into the guidance that’s provided to ensure your advertising is compliant. This helps your brand stay on the right side of consumer perception, while also avoiding potentially significant fines for non-compliance.
How does accreditation help?
As part of our accredited status, we support the IAB’s Transparency & Consent Framework Version 2.0, which was launched following extensive consultation with publishers and associations representing all aspects of the industry. Its simple objective is to help all parties in the digital advertising chain ensure that they comply with the EU’s GDPR and ePrivacy Directive when processing personal data, accessing and/or storing information on a user’s device. That includes cookies, advertising identifiers, device identifiers and other tracking technologies.
RISK: Your target audience can become frustrated by intrusive ads
So-called “bad ads” can frustrate your audience by disrupting their browsing experience. They often damage your brand image and lead to low-quality performance. In response, consumers may install an ad blocker, which has a knock-on effect for the publishers as they will generate less revenue in return for the free content they are providing. Meanwhile, this also limits consumer exposure to “good ads”, which can be useful, relevant and valuable.
How does accreditation help?
In order to promote a more permissive mentality towards advertising, Encore makes sure its ad units comply with the ‘Coalition for Better Ads’ guidelines, which is a prerequisite of IAB UK’s Gold Certification. This initiative was developed by leading international trade associations and companies involved in online media. The aim is to leverage consumer insights and cross-industry expertise to develop and implement new global standards for online ads that meet with consumer expectations.
This means that working with an accredited agency such as Encore ensures your advertising spend is put towards creating clear, easily viewable ads with creative formats designed to engage, instead of annoy. Ultimately these drive higher quality leads, and more effective ad performance.
Accreditation is more important than ever
Programmatic advertising is still fundamentally concerned with presenting the right ad, to the right user, at the right time. The difficulty is that the media publisher ecosystem has grown so complex, while also being infiltrated by bad actors who have latched on to the potentially lucrative practice of ad fraud. The risks of being defrauded, or having your media exploited, are growing exponentially. In this environment it makes sense to trade only with accredited partners, who you can trust are following best practice and guidelines to deliver more cost-efficient, effective campaigns.
That’s why Encore is proud to be 1 of the 231 companies taking the lead in ensuring that advertising media is brand safe by being aligned with TAG industry standards. We are also delighted to be Gold Standard 2.0 Certified by IAB UK and committed to continually meeting this high standard of work to give ourselves the best chance of being awarded Gold Standard 2.0 Certified later this year.
If you’d like to know more about how Encore can protect your ad spend, get in touch.
[1] ‘The State of Personalisation 2021’, Twilio Segment, https://segment.com/state-of-personalization-report/