Annual TAG European Fraud Benchmark Report Finds
TAG Certified Channel Inventory Increased by 77x in Last Six
Years
WASHINGTON and LONDON, June 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report on European ad
fraud from TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group)
reinforces the importance of robust anti-fraud
standards across the digital advertising supply chain, finding a
62% reduction in invalid traffic (IVT) in TAG Certified Channels
(TCC) - where three or more participants have adopted TAG's
rigorous anti-fraud standards - over Non-Certified
Channels (NCC). The 2024 TAG European Fraud Benchmark
Study also found that the industry's success in reducing IVT in TCC
has driven a flywheel of continued success, as IVT rates have been
held under 1% in those channels for six consecutive years.
"We're beginning to see a virtuous cycle in our fight against ad
fraud, thanks to continuing adoption of high standards
across the supply chain," said Mike
Zaneis, CEO of TAG. "Because ad buyers now expect to
find sustained low fraud rates in TAG Certified
Channels, they increasingly shift their investments to those
channels, thus encouraging companies to adopt and maintain those
standards and helping extend low IVT rates for another year."
As adoption of the TAG anti-fraud certification
programme standards has grown, so has the volume of TCC inventory
available in the digital ad supply chain. The number of TCC
impressions measured in the study has skyrocketed from just 4
billion TCC impressions in the first year of the study to 308.4
billion last year.
"A rising tide lifts all boats, and the broad adoption of TAG's
Certified Against Fraud standard has dramatically
increased the amount of TAG-certified inventory available to the
market," said Jules Kendrick,
Chief Growth Officer and MD, UK & Europe for TAG. "Over the six years, the
amount of TCC inventory has jumped by more than 77x, clearly
illustrating the demand from buyers for inventory for consistent,
low, and predictable IVT rates and the confidence from those buyers
in TCC to meet those needs."
The study was conducted by The 614 Group and evaluated IVT rates
in TCC by measuring more than 308 billion ad impressions in TCCs
from January-December 2023 from three
of the largest advertising agency holding companies across the
United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and the
Netherlands.
The study also included findings from in-depth qualitative
interviews with senior executives from participating agencies and
other ad tech companies. Among the notable themes from those
interviews were the following:
- Industry executives believe that success of the
anti-fraud model should be extended to other industry
challenges. After six years of low IVT rates in TCCs in
Europe, agencies increasingly see
IVT as an area for vigilance rather than urgent action, whilst
focusing on challenges around wasted ad spend. Executives cited
TAG's collaborative anti-fraud programme as a model
for other industry challenges, particularly in transparency.
- Agencies see continued confusion around definitions of
Made-for-Advertising (MFA) inventory. European agency
executives focused on the problem of Made-for-Advertising inventory
and highlighted an industry misconception that MFA
falls within the definition of ad fraud
(i.e., IVT). Executives felt the
industry needed a clear and consistent definition of
MFA.
- Executives called for a balance of automation with a
continued "human touch." While automated programmes have
simplified and standardised IVT reduction, agency
execs stressed the importance of continued human engagement in the
process. As one exec noted, "automated processes should benefit
ad fraud prevention, but over-automation
could cause blind spots," as well as unintended
consequences.
"MFA may be the hottest topic in advertising, and agency
executives clearly told us that our industry needs to establish
clearer definitions around the term, so we can reduce confusion
between it and IVT," said Rob
Rasko, CEO of The 614 Group. "Executives also felt that
the collaborative, standards-based model that TAG has used so
successfully to address fraud should be extended to
other industry challenges."
The full study can be found here. Additional information about
TAG's Certified Against Fraud Programme and how
companies can achieve the TAG Certified Against Fraud
Seal can be found at
https://www.tagtoday.net/fraud.
Methodology
This is the sixth annual TAG European Fraud
Benchmark Study conducted by The 614 Group, and it continues to
follow the methodology of the prior studies. The 614 Group
partnered with three leading agency holding companies - GroupM,
Omnicom Media Group, and Publicis Groupe - along with their
MRC-accredited measurement vendors to collect and aggregate all
impressions for campaigns that were executed from January 2023 to December
2023 in five European countries (Germany, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, and the UK).
These impressions included display media and video ads in
desktop, mobile web, mobile in-app, and CTV environments. The
analysis did not use sampling of any kind, as 100% of all TAG
Certified Against Fraud impressions given to The 614
Group were included in the analysis. Upon receipt, all data was
aggregated within a secure database in order to create the proper
reporting.
About TAG
TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) is the global
certification program to strengthen safety and transparency in
digital advertising. For nearly a decade, TAG's seal programs have
demonstrated their effectiveness in minimizing fraudulent traffic,
sharing threat intelligence, protecting brand safety, and
increasing transparency. TAG's international member community
includes the world's largest and most influential brands, agencies,
publishers, and ad tech providers. TAG is the first and only
Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) for the
digital advertising industry. For more information on TAG, please
visit tagtoday.net.
Media Contact:
Andrew Weinstein
202-667-4967
379360@email4pr.com
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SOURCE TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group)