The programmatic ecosystem has long been plagued with a lack of trust tied to systematic and industry related issues. Despite the opportunity and the focus from the ANA and other industry bodies, misaligned incentives have made it nearly impossible to affect change.
Brand safety has been a focus of many advertisers on the client and agency level and while transparency has been in the forefront of nearly every conversation, resolutions have eluded the industry. Is this, perhaps because agencies and brands alike have created teams focused on brand safety yet have only played lip service to solving transparency problem? Or is it simply due to misaligned incentives, a lack of the necessary tech and a regulatory body to audit that we have fallen short?
The transparency reality is that incentives remain misaligned across most of the industry but tech and regulatory options have caught up as many truly want to solve this issue. We are, however, finally at the tipping point. Whether it took inflation, market crash, or just further education, advancements in OpenRTB and willingness exist and the industry is finally prepared to tackle the topic.
This is exciting times. Trust and transparency will finally coexist. On July 26 TAG, The Trustworthy Accountability Group, along with TrustNet launched a certification for transparency. The new certification requires partners who receive it, or who would like to be certified to provide auditable, log files so that TrustNet can follow the money and help brands and agencies buying media to see where and how their ad dollar is being spent.
Not surprisingly only a small number of companies are on the initial certification list. Agencies including OMG and Horizon Media, SSP's, including OpenX and Xander, brand safety and measurement companies like IAS and DV, and the Octillion DSP are on the initial list.
Most DSPs and platforms add many hidden fees, or significantly markup services from third parties like measurement companies, inventory providers, attribution solutions and data so they would not likely seek approval for business reasons or get approval from their own operations as this would impact revenue and margin. Those on the list clearly recognize a need for change and have a dedication to transparency and share a common interest in moving the market forward.
I applaud the effort. While not perfect, it is a promising step forward and it will certainly help those buyers looking for a partner dedicated to achieving their business goals with a common interest in success and eliminating waste to do so. I also encourage those buyers to look at the list and work with one or several of the partners.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.org/MyersBizNet.