Quick quiz for you: How many press column inches recently have been devoted to talk of negative online advertising, ad safety, fraud and so on? Ok, bad news is I don’t have an answer for you, but I’m going to guess at hundreds of thousands. Millions probably.
You’d think in all that time *someone* would have come up with a way to address these problems and try to create a more open, honest and trusted environment in which brands could advertise online, confident they were paying the right price for genuine ads to appear on strategically planned sites against appropriate content.
It would just need one of the UK’s digital industry bodies to put together, I don’t know, some sort of accreditation system supported by digital media owners which media agencies could commit to in order to publicly declare their commitment to these goals and in turn reassure their clients that their brand name was in safe hands.
Huh.
Oh, hang on a second.
Hold that thought.
It turns out there IS one! Who knew?!
Well, we did. And so did two other agencies. But it seems not many others did.
In October 2017 it was reported that the IAB was preparing to launch the IAB Gold Standard, a shiny new initiative designed to reduce ad fraud, improve the digital advertising experience and increase brand safety.
Something like 23 IAB UK board member companies, among them Facebook, Google, Oath, Twitter, Weve, Microsoft and News UK, signed a letter committing to improving digital advertising standards in the UK with the implementation of a new Gold Standard of digital advertising in order to build a more sustainable future for the industry.
The accreditation would see agencies commit to the following three actions:
- To reduce ad fraud by implementing the ads.txt initiative on all sites carrying ads;
- To improve the digital advertising experience by adhering to the LEAN principles, the Coalition for Better Advertising standards and never using the 12 “bad” ads;
- To increase brand safety by working with Jicwebs with a view to becoming certified or maintaining certification.
Last month we were delighted to pass the IAB Gold Standard. And even more proud when we found out we were the first independent agency to do so. But then slightly shocked to find we were one of only three UK media agencies to have bothered.
Which got me wondering: Why? The whole process took a combined 2-3 working days to complete and it wasn’t hugely expensive at just £2,500. So, what’s holding agencies back?
The reluctance to have it confirmed through a respected third party that their online trading focuses on brand safety as well as performance?
The reluctance to be able to reassure a client wholly and with absolute confidence that they have taken every possible step towards ensuring their brand is safe online?
The reluctance to teach their young talent about the importance of creating an open and honest environment for online advertising lest the negative press that has been damaging the sector for the last few years starts escalating so much that it becomes a breeding ground of mistrust?
I genuinely can’t fathom why so few agencies have taken this on. Maybe there’s a backlog in paperwork and this time next week there will be scores more accredited and I’ll be eating my words. But you know what, if that’s the case then I’d welcome it.
Throughout my career I have seen the reputation of digital advertising periodically suffer as both the industry and national press have attacked current measures the platforms have in place. When it finally feels like we’ve got an opportunity to take a giant stride in the right direction, no one seems to be embracing the opportunity for positive change.
I would urge every agency leader, for the sake of making all our lives easier, to look into the IAB Gold Standard. It will break neither your backs nor your banks, but the small investment will pay dividends for a long time to come.
By Robin Trust, CEO
This article first appeared on The Drum.