AOP launches new Ad Quality Charter
The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) has signed a new Ad Quality Charter in an attempt to set a new benchmark for digital media standards.
The AOP is encouraging the entire media industry to adopt the practice guidelines listed in the charter which cover issues such as viewability, brand safety and ad fraud.
The key elements of the charter include rebating misplaced activity, using fraud detection tools verified under the JICWEBS anti-fraud principles, and delivering viewability metrics defined by advertisers or agencies.
“The AOP has made significant headway in raising the bar for online media through its integral role with JICWEBS, but to make the shift towards high-quality media permanent, the industry must work together,” said Richard Reeves, managing director at AOP.
“The AOP hopes to create a more sustainable and reliable future for digital publishing. If all members of the ecosystem can join forces there will be a real possibility of securing the long-term success of digital publishing.”
The charter is being officially launched at the AOP’s Inside Out Digital Publishing Convention taking place in London today.
[textbox title=” Key elements of the charter” position=”” width=”100%” background=”#D2EEF9″ title-background=”#EFEFEF” font-size=”15″]Brand safety
To minimise the risk of ad misplacement, publishers should:
– Be independently verified for brand safety through the Digital Trading Standards Group (DTSG) Good Practice Principles
– Use accredited Content Verification (CV) tools to screen 100% of impressions
– Deploy custom blacklists and whitelists as requested by advertisers or agencies
– Implement the Infringing Website List (IWL) from the City of London Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU)
– Rebate any activity confirmed to be misplaced and remove any ads that breach brand safety rules
Fraud
Continually reduce and work to stamp out fraudulent activity in the following ways:
– Commit to being independently verified by the Anti-Fraud Good Practice Principles for business trading digital display advertising
– Use Fraud Detection / Non-Human Traffic tools verified under the JICWEBS Anti-Fraud Tools principles
– Commit to 0% fraud as measured by independent third-party verification tools, billing only for human traffic
Viewability
Ensure ads have the opportunity to be seen and raise the viewability threshold by:
– Either upholding the minimum MRC standards – 50% of display ads viewable for one second and two seconds for video – or exceeding them by ensuring 100% of display and native ads are viewable for one second (two for video)
– Deliver bespoke viewability metrics defined by advertisers or agencies
– Maximise viewability of advertising by optimising in-page placement based on user behaviour and content consumption [/textbox]
Industry reaction
“The AOP’s focus on creating a “more sustainable, accountable, and reliable future for premium digital publishing” can only be congratulated. An industry still in its infancy like digital publishing needs strong leadership to evolve and we hope the ‘Quality Charter’ will be the first step in securing the long-term success of the industry. While improving the digital ad experience is essential, we also need to empower publishers to consider alternative means of revenue generation – over and above advertising – to create a strong foundation.”
– Ben Barokas, CEO and Co-founder, Sourcepoint
“The Ad Quality Charter launched by the AOP has been developed in the interest of the entire media ecosystem. We actively support initiatives that further develop the industry and solve today’s biggest challenges within advertising. Providing confidence in media transactions must be a priority for all.”
– Nick Morley, EMEA MD, Integral Ad Science
“Adhering to an industry charter means that everyone has a minimum commitment to make when dealing with brand safety, fraud and viewability. It’s an excellent step forward and one that Sovrn deeply believes in. Less than 1% of sites that apply to join our portfolio are accepted and constant monitoring keeps our offering clean.
“As one of the first companies to already be certified by JICWEBS and the Trustworthy Accountability Group, we take these charters very seriously and we encourage the industry as a whole to embrace this as the baseline for a better internet. The combination of stringent in-house processes combined with independent verification is surely the best way of building confidence in the digital media industry as a whole.”
– Andy Evans, CMO, Sovrn