September 2024

• Latest Threat Intel Paper
• State of the Fight 
• Member Spotlight: IPG Mediabrands Dave Byrne
• Where in the world is TAG? 🌍
• One More Thing

TAG Threat Intelligence Analysis Finds “High Confidence” Bad Actors Are Using Ads to Spread Election Disinformation

In September, TAG’s Threat Intelligence team released a new research analysis on the growing threat of election disinformation spread through digital advertising in the lead-up to the 2024 elections in the U.S. and other countries around the world. 

With elections scheduled in more than 80 countries, the analysis outlined the risks of malicious actors abusing the programmatic marketplace to monetize disinformation sites, micro target susceptible audiences, and generate realistic disinformation campaigns at scale using generative AI (GenAI). The lack of verification in some automated programmatic channels, for example, could allow bad actors to earn revenue on disinformation sites from legitimate advertisers, while microtargeting could allow threat actors to deliver election ads to audiences who are most susceptible to such disinformation. 

“Based on our analysis, we have high confidence that malicious actors will increase their use of digital advertisements to spread disinformation during this election cycle,” said David Lu, TAG’s Vice President of Threat Intelligence. “The existing programmatic advertising system allows threat actors to run misleading ads on reputable sites and even target those ads to individuals who are more susceptible to disinformation. There is also evidence of domestic and foreign actors driving traffic to sites hosting disinformation content in real time.”

The analysis also outlined several efforts to use advertising to drive traffic to disinformation sites, including, "Operation Doppelganger," a Russian-based influence campaign that used ads promote disinformation sites that mimicked legitimate media outlets. Political ads have also been used to redirect traffic to so-called  “pink slime journalism sites,” which disguise themselves as legitimate news organizations but instead promote misinformation against a single political candidate or party.

The analysis also described the wide variation in existing standards and capabilities for blocking ads containing false information. In one study, researchers submitted 16 sample advertisements with disinformation on upcoming EU elections to different platforms. While one site rejected all the ads, another accepted them all. 

It also noted the divergence in government engagement, as the U.S. government halted its communications with companies regarding foreign election interference earlier this year, while the EU introduced new legislation mandating broader transparency around political advertising. Overall, the analysis warns that with more than half the world's population voting in 2024, online users should be vigilant and aware about disinformation circulating through social media, websites, and digital advertising.

State of the Fight: Industry Powerhouses Unite to Forge a Bold New Path Forward

Regardless of whether you’re a regular or a first-time attendee, TAG’s annual “State of the Fight” on October 9th in New York City offers a do-not-miss lineup of top industry speakers, ripped-from-the-headlines topics, and compelling action items for your business.

Here are a few of the highlights from this year’s agenda:

• The Future of Industry Self-Regulation -- With the shuttering of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), current and future efforts for collaboration to solve complex industry problems have been called into question. TAG CEO Mike Zaneis addresses the state of industry self-regulation post-GARM and reinforces the importance of TAG's work in enforcing clear and enforceable standards.
• Transparency is a Non-Negotiable -- The ANA’s Programmatic Transparency Report found that improvements in transparency could enable $22 billion in industry-wide efficiency gains. With 50+ marketers leaning into this work, access to marketer log files is now table stakes for all programmatic players. Adam Benaroya (Kenvue), John Piccone (Adform), and Mike Zaneis explore how companies throughout the industry can benefit from increased transparency in programmatic advertising.
• Ad Fraud: The Next Chapter -- Are Made-For-Advertising (MFA) sites fraud? What about domain spoofing? Or how about ID mismatching? Chris Kane (Jounce Media) and Mike Zaneis will discuss the differences between legal fraud, IVT, and issues around inventory quality, in order to set the industry on a clearer path forward.
• The Danger of Disinformation -- Disinformation is a growing menace, with advertising increasingly being used to monetize and spread falsehoods. Deceptive ads - often masked as legitimate content - and ad inventory on disinformation sites, exploit digital platforms to amplify misleading narratives, eroding trust in media and institutions. Deva Bronson (Dentsu), Azma Gohar (IndexExchange), and Rachel Nyswander Thomas (TAG) discuss the growing threat of disinformation and its impact on public trust and democracy.
• Demystifying the World of Threat Intelligence -- Digital advertising criminals have evolved their tradecraft to subvert detection by using technology such as disposable cloud infrastructure and anonymous cryptocurrencies. It is inevitable they will leave digital "breadcrumbs" of their nefarious activity, dotted across the ecosystem.  David Lu (TAG), Taylor Hamill (TTD), and Eva-Marie Hamilton (Sovrn) discuss how to find those “breadcrumbs” and share threat intelligence to combat malvertising and block those illicit financial gains.
• Be Bold for Publishers -- In the last year, TAG has worked closely with the TAG Community globally to develop new tools and standards to address the pressures publishers face, ranging from the Keyword Exclusion List Toolset to a publisher-friendly Certified Against Fraud Certification pathway.  Justin Barton (BlackEnterprise), Dave Byrne (IPG), Kerel Cooper (GumGum), and Todd Miller (TAG) discuss the evolving challenges faced by publishers and how TAG can help.
• Do New Channels Mean New Challenges? -- Emerging channels have the potential to help advertisers reach new audiences and pursue new strategies, but they also come with a new set of  brand safety challenges. Christine Foster (Kroger Precision Marketing), Brendan Kelly (SXM), Jonathan Stringfield (Microsoft), and Jules Kendrick (TAG) examine the opportunities and challenges from emerging digital advertising channels. 

Save your seat for the biggest and boldest “State of the Fight” yet!

The password to access the page will be in the latest TAG Today in member's inboxes. Be on the look out!

IPG Mediabrands’ Dave Byrne Steps Into the TAG Member Spotlight

In the third episode of this season’s TAG Member Spotlight, TAG’s Jules Kendrick and Vanessa Goff-Yu sit down with Dave Byrne, a 2024 TAG Trust Champion and EVP of Global Brand Safety and Privacy at IPG Mediabrands.  They talked about the importance of taking different brand safety conversation approaches, interrogating the brief, using brand safety as part of your growth strategy, and sharing a phone booth with another person (short version: don’t!). 

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

In the coming months, you can find us at:

		State of the Fight (October 9th) New York City, NY US
		Advertising Week NYC (October 7th-10th) New York City, NY US
		Brand Safety Summit (October 29th-30th) New York City, NY US

If you're going to be there and want to connect with us over a beverage, then reach out to us below!

Keep Up-To-Date With The Working Group Brief

TAG's working groups are a crucial source point of conversation and collaboration across the whole of digital advertising. Make sure you stay up to date with the latest progress and developments with the Workin Group Brief. 

Read the latest Working Group Brief 👉 tagtoday.net/working-groups

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.