Worried about the cost of delivering your online ads? IAB UK has launched a new tool to help advertisers understand the value they derive from the middlemen operating within the online advertising supply chain.
Around 55% of investment goes towards the so-called ‘tech tax’ – the money spent on trading desks, demand side platforms, ad exchanges and data, targeting and verification services, according to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
Meanwhile, multiple sources, including WARC and Mediatel, have shown that in worst case scenarios only around 28% of advertiser money goes where its needed – with adtech businesses, fraudsters and agency fees extracting the majority of the money as online ads are delivered to the working media.
However, there are many valued and essential players operating in the supply chain too, and the IAB UK hopes its Transparency FAQs initiative will help advertisers make more informed decisions about using them.
IAB members from different parts of the industry worked together to produce 20 common questions that can be asked of digital advertising businesses. [advert position=”left”]
The IAB said the aim is to equip brands and agencies with the right questions to ask in order to help them understand more about the companies’ business models and provide an indication of their attitude towards transparency.
The questions cover three main areas: pricing, placement and data usage and include questions from ‘What is your business model and how do you make money’ to ‘What brand safety measures do you use’ and ‘Under GDPR, what legal basis are you providing your services under’?
The trade body representing UK advertisers, ISBA, said it welcomes the initiative.
“In a complex media environment, voluntary disclosure of this sort will help advertisers make comparisons and understand the differences between ad tech providers,” said ISBA’s director general, Phil Smith.
Meanwhile, Tim Elkington, chief digital officer, IAB UK, said: “The Transparency FAQs is a voluntary initiative that we hope ad tech companies will embrace as they will help buyers understand the landscape more easily. They’re not a silver bullet or cure for issues around transparency, but we think they’re a useful step forward.
“The answers to the FAQs will enable buyers to compare the policies and attitudes of ad tech companies in the same way that you might use the John Lewis site to compare vacuum cleaners before making a purchase.”
