January 2024

• TAG 2024 Priorities
• Where in the world is TAG? 🌍
• One More Thing

TAG 2024 Priorities: Quantify Industry’s Anti-Fraud Savings, Introduce “AdSec” Concept, Evaluate AI Content Labeling & Guarantee Transparency Results

Success in digital advertising requires constant evaluation, iteration, and innovation. Companies need to measure the impact of their marketing efforts at every level, double down on the tactics and channels that work, and innovate their strategies to stay ahead of rapidly changing technologies and business models.

TAG’s 2024 strategic priorities are built on the same approach. As a metric-driven organization, TAG plans to continue to conduct and release the tentpole research that demonstrates the effectiveness of our programs, while digging deeper into the savings achieved by the industry through fraud certification and new data from the ANA’s landmark transparency report. 

TAG also plans to double down on our powerful threat-sharing efforts by introducing the new concept of “AdSec” (or advertising security) to provide a common umbrella for our industry’s security-focused efforts. In addition, TAG will innovate through the launch of Project Brand Integrity (PBI) 2.0, determine appropriate standards for AI-generated content, and unveil a new savings guarantee from adopting TAG’s leading transparency framework.

Below are some of the highlights of TAG’s 2024 plans across our four major program areas:

Eliminate Fraudulent Traffic

1. TAG’s “Be Bold for Publishers” initiative will make it easier for publishers to get more deeply involved in the TAG Community. As part of that initiative, the Anti-Fraud Working Group plans to release Certified Against Fraud (CAF) v10 guidelines which will expand the paths by which publishers can achieve the CAF Seal.
2. TAG will evolve the CAF Program to better address audio inventory and will also take an even deeper dive into the fraud challenges particular to gaming.
3. TAG plans to develop and publish new and original fraud research quantifying the savings achieved by the digital advertising industry through TAG’s anti-fraud program, while highlighting new fraud data points from ANA Transparency Report.

Share Threat Intelligence

1. TAG plans to introduce the new concept of “AdSec” (Advertising Security) - paralleling common parlance for other security domains, such as InfoSec and CloudSec - to provide an umbrella term to describe our industry’s efforts in this vital arena.  
2. TAG will expand the AdSec Threat Exchange to include intelligence sharing about Enterprise threats, in addition to existing focuses on Malvertising and Piracy threats.
3. TAG will escalate the fight against digital piracy through the launch of Project Brand Integrity (PBI) 2.0, which will include direct pre-bid partnership with the industry’s major ad tech intermediaries and new tools to help companies across the digital ad supply chain avoid association with digital IP theft.

Promote Brand Safety

1. TAG plans to release a toolbox for brands and agencies to help make their brand safety efforts tied to specific keywords and phrases more effective.
2. TAG will lead the industry in examining the brand safety and transparency implications of AI-generated content in digital advertising, particularly regarding authenticity.
3. TAG will work closely with publishers and original content creators to determine the best way to identify AI-generated and non-AI content.
4. TAG will advance the Brand Safety Certified (BSC) Program to require the Implementation of a piracy-related block list such as the one crowdsourced through the AdSec Threat Exchange,

Enable Transparency

1. TAG will increase adoption of the TAG Certified for Transparency (CFT) Program to expand the log-level transparency framework that gives brands and their technology partners a “shared truth” around ad spend.
2. TAG will launch a “Benchmark Your Brand” initiative to engage the industry in TAG TrustNet, including a first-of-its-kind guarantee for brands adopting the TAG transparency framework of a 20% improvement in programmatic ad spend.
3. TAG will strengthen the industry’s understanding of “TrueCPM” – the actual cost of a CPM after adjusting for quality and performance – while reinforcing the importance of Log Level Data (LLD) in measuring and improving performance.

In short, 2024 will be a year in which TAG reinforces the success of its current programs, evolves programs to meet new and emerging industry needs, and launches a range of new initiatives to position TAG’s members and the industry for sustained success moving forward. We look forward to your feedback, engagement and support on these efforts.

Team TAG are always looking to connect with the TAG Community wherever they are! 

In February, you can find us here: 

Advertising Association: LEAD 2024 (February 8th) QEII Conference Centre, London UK

If you're not going to be there and want to connect with us over a beverage, then reach out to us below!

Leverage TAG Research into Your Everyday!

From APAC Fraud Snapshot reports, to UK Brand Safety Consumer reports, to Best Practices whitepapers, TAG's research is here to support our member's day-to-day compliance as well as strategic planning. 

Visit our Data and Insight page 👉 tagtoday.net/insights

Let's Make Some Noise Together 🤝

We love it when TAG members highlight our work together to fight digital ad crime and improve transparency. Please send any TAG-related press releases, blogs, or other announcements to Andrew Weinstein at andrewwstn@gmail.com for review before release.