In an effort to raise the standards in digital advertising and address the key issues facing the industry, the IAB UK is launching the ‘IAB Gold Standard’ initiative, comprising three initial primary actions that media owners can take.
The first is to reduce ad fraud by implementing the ads.txt initiative on all sites carrying ads, which aims to increase transparency in the programmatic advertising ecosystem.
The second is to improve the digital advertising experience by adhering to the L.E.A.N principles (Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive ads), the Coalition for Better Advertising standards and never using the 12 ‘bad’ ads.
Thirdly, in an effort to increase brand safety, the IAB will be working alongside JICWEBS with a view to becoming certified or maintaining certification.
23 IAB UK board member companies, including Facebook and Google, are leading the initiative and have publicly signed a letter committing to the three actions.
“Everyone agrees that digital advertising standards need to improve to keep this industry sustainable and thriving. The IAB Gold Standard is a practical measure that demonstrates media owner commitment to making this happen,” said the IAB’s chief digital officer Tim Elkington.
“Media owners need to send a clear signal to advertisers and agencies that they take their responsibilities seriously to offer the best environment possible so that brands can confidently use digital advertising.”
The 23 board member signatories are AppNexus, Bauer Media, ESI Media, Facebook, Google, Guardian Media Group, GroundTruth, Immediate Media, Mail Brands, Microsoft, News UK, Oath, Quantcast, RadiumOne, Teads, Telegraph Media Group, TripAdvisor, Trinity Mirror Solutions, Twitter, Vevo, Viant, Videology and Weve.
The deadline for implementing the three initiatives will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
