In this month's newsletter:
- Changed the Game for Publishers - and Brands - with “Be Bold for Publishers”
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Revamped Anti-Piracy Strategy Shifted Fight from Post-Bid to Pre-Bid
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ANA & TAG TrustNet Launch Programmatic Transparency Benchmark
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Highlighting the Pioneering Women Powering TAG’s AdSec Threat Exchange
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Updated TAG Guidelines Continue to Raise the Bar on Fraud and Malware Prevention
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First “Ad Fraud Savings” Study Finds Anti-Fraud Efforts Saved Advertisers $10.8 Billion in 2023
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Miss Out on an Invaluable Discussion in a TAG Working Group? Catch Up Here!
TAG Year in Review 2024
From growing the global TAG Community to expanding our brand safety toolkit…
From developing new research to arming members with real-time threat intelligence...
From enabling publisher success to evolving our crime-fighting strategies…
The only word to describe TAG in 2024 is…PROLIFIC.
Read on for highlights from across our mission areas and throughout the year.
And to the entire TAG Community… Thank you for your continued leadership and support in protecting the digital advertising industry in 2024. We look forward to accelerating our work together to improve transparency and strengthen safety across digital advertising in the coming year.
Changed the Game for Publishers - and Brands - with “Be Bold for Publishers”
Making CAF More Accessible for Publishers
In the past, some publishers have noted that the process for achieving the Certified Against Fraud (CAF) Seal could be cost-prohibitive, given the program’s requirement that publishers undergo an audit or retain a third-party vendor to verify that 100% of their monetizable transactions are filtered for IVT (invalid traffic) detection and removal. In 2024, TAG addressed those concerns by creating a simpler and more cost-effective pathway for publishers to achieve the CAF Seal. Publishers can now fulfill the 100% IVT filtering requirement simply by showing they use a Supply Side Platform (SSP) that holds a valid CAF Seal. This crucial update to TAG’s CAF Guidelines will allow a much broader and more diverse group of publishers to demonstrate their leadership in fighting IVT and enjoy the benefits of TAG Certification – as well as reinforcing the vital role SSPs play in reducing IVT early in the supply chain.
Employing Keyword Exclusion with a Chisel Instead of a Hammer
Too often, such exclusion lists encompass not only effective and targeted terms, but also keywords that are overly broad, irrelevant, or outdated. In addition, once added to a list, keywords are rarely removed, even if the terms included are no longer effective or relevant to the advertiser’s brand safety strategy. The Keyword Exclusion Toolset (KELT) includes an Always-Block Keyword List, a Keyword Maintenance Tool and a Best Practices Guide.
Additionally, TAG and the Brand Safety Institute (BSI) partnered to develop a training course to educate their communities about how to use TAG’s KELT and integrate it effectively into their brand safety programs.
Revamped Anti-Piracy Strategy Shifted Fight from Post-Bid to Pre-Bid
TAG announced a significant expansion of TAG’s proven anti-piracy initiative to defund the criminals who profit from stolen content while protecting advertisers from unintentional exposure to unsafe websites.
Fast-changing threats like the pirate domains created by content thieves require real-time collaboration and intelligence sharing to develop a rapid, cross-industry response. By incorporating real-time intelligence on new pirate domains via TAG’s Ad Sec Threat Exchange and working with key intermediaries in the digital ad supply chain to cut off funding from pirate websites through a comprehensive pre-bid exclusion list called the Pirate Domain Exclusion List (PDEL), TAG has successfully prevented pirate sites from monetizing stolen intellectual property.
PDEL’s release was lauded by MediaPost with the headline “TAG Broadsides Pirates, Uses Pre-Bid Exclusion List,” and has been well-received and adopted by companies who hold TAG’s Brand Safety Certified Seal.
Awarded a Record 321 Certifications during 2024 Recertification, with 33% Jump in “TAG Platinum” Status YoY
In March, TAG announced it had awarded a record 321 TAG certifications to companies for setting industry best practices around fraud, brand safety, malware, and transparency. In addition, a record 32 companies reached TAG Platinum status by achieving three or more seals in 2024, a 33% increase over the 23 companies that did so last year.
Overall, 218 TAG certified companies earned a total of 321 seals across TAG’s Certified Against Fraud, Certified Against Malware, Brand Safety Certified, and Certified for Transparency Programs in 2024. A record 69% of this year’s seals were earned through independent validation in which the company’s certification was confirmed through a third-party audit.
Introduced Version 2.0 of the TAG Malvertising Taxonomy
First released in 2022, the TAG Malvertising Taxonomy has become a key tool for digital advertisers to strengthen their defenses against malvertising attacks. In 2024, the Anti-Malware Working Group released a significant update of the TAG Malvertising Taxonomy, informed by insights and intelligence gathered from the TAG x Mercyhurst University research and the Malvertising Super-User Group. The new “version two” of taxonomy includes new definitions and characterizations of terms such as steganography, browser extension/hijackers, click-jacking and more.
Measured 77x Increase in TAG Certified Channel Inventory across European Markets over the Last Six Years
The 2024 TAG European Fraud Benchmark Study found a 62% reduction in invalid traffic (IVT) in TAG Certified Channels (TCC) -- i.e. channels in which three or more participants have adopted TAG’s rigorous anti-fraud standards -- over Non-Certified Channels (NCC). The industry’s success in reducing IVT in TCC has driven a flywheel of continued success, as IVT rates have now been held under 1% in those channels for six consecutive years.
Among other notable findings, the number of TCC impressions measured in the study has skyrocketed by 77x from just 4 billion TCC impressions in the first year of the study to 308.4 billion last year, as adoption of the TAG anti-fraud certification program standards has grown.
ANA & TAG TrustNet Launch Programmatic Transparency Benchmark
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and TAG TrustNet released early findings from their first quarterly Programmatic Transparency Benchmark Study. In the new benchmarking results, the percentage of media dollars spent on Made for Advertising (MFA) sites dropped from 15 percent to 4 percent, suggesting that advertisers are taking greater control following heavy press coverage of last year’s study results. The average number of websites and apps on which campaigns run have also dropped from 44,000 to 23,000, and a high percentage of advertisers have reduced their number of SSP and exchange partners. The success of this joint initiative was recognized in AdAge as one of “The 5 Biggest AdTech Stories of 2024.”
Highlighting the Pioneering Women Powering TAG’s AdSec Threat Exchange
While the global field of threat intelligence remains strongly male-dominated, the vital threat-sharing within TAG’s AdSec Threat Exchanged is accomplished with something much closer to gender parity. This achievement was highlighted during the Cannes Lions Festival with a panel featuring female tech leaders from TAG, PWC, Index Exchange, GeoEdge and The Women in Programmatic Network. In front of a packed audience, panelists discussed the growing prominence of women in the cyber security and threat intelligence field as well as the challenges malvertising has brought to digital advertising.
Updated TAG Guidelines Continue to Raise the Bar on Fraud and Malware Prevention
Criminals are constantly changing their attacks, and TAG’s certification guidelines are designed to be equally adaptable through ongoing updates and enhancements, designed through the relevant TAG Working Groups and in consultation with the broader TAG community. Driving that process of continuous improvement forward, TAG updated its anti-fraud and anti-malware program guidelines in July.
TAG Threat Intelligence Analysis Found “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 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,” said David Lu, TAG’s Vice President of Threat Intelligence. “There is also evidence of domestic and foreign actors driving traffic to sites hosting disinformation content in real time.”
First “Ad Fraud Savings” Study Finds Anti-Fraud Efforts Saved Advertisers $10.8 Billion in 2023
As TAG members know well, ad fraud was historically a persistent and intractable issue in digital advertising. Happily, after a decade of collaborative cross-industry efforts to fight ad fraud, the first study to analyze the financial impact of those efforts found that US advertisers saved an estimated $10.8 billion in 2023 over the losses they otherwise would have incurred without those industry standards in place.
Conducted by TAG in partnership with the 4A’s, ANA, and IAB, the 2024 US Ad Fraud Savings Report found that total losses to invalid traffic (IVT) for all display and video advertising in the US would have been approximately $11.78 billion in 2023, but - thanks to TAG Certification and other industry programs - those losses were held to just $979 million, a 92% reduction. The report also found that more than 90% of digital display and video advertising in the US last year flowed through companies that had earned TAG’s Certified Against Fraud Seal.
9th Annual TAG “State of the Fight” Brings Together Industry Leaders to Tackle Top Industry Challenges
On October 9th, TAG held its ninth annual “State of the Fight” briefing in New York City as a forum for the industry’s leaders to hear from their peers, discuss pressing challenges, and chart a collaborative path forward. TAG CEO Mike Zaneis provided the introductory remarks for the event, reviewing milestone industry accomplishments and outlining a bold vision for the future of industry self-regulation.
To watch all of the sessions from this year's SOTF, visit https://www.tagtoday.net/state-of-the-fight-2024. TAG community members will have received the password to the page in the email version of the October TAG Today newsletter.
Annual Fraud Benchmark Study Finds Continued Success With Fourth Straight Year of Sub-1% IVT in TAG Certified Channels
On the heels of the industry study documenting $10.8 billion in fraud savings last year, the 2024 TAG US Fraud Benchmark Report reinforced the industry’s continued success in maintaining low fraud rates in TAG Certified Channels (TCCs). The report showed that the digital advertising industry had successfully held invalid traffic (IVT) rates under 1% in TAG Certified Channels (TCCs) in the US for the fourth consecutive year.
This year’s benchmark report also showed the incredible increase in adoption of TAG’s Certified Against Fraud Program across the advertising supply chain over the last eight years. Since 2017, the volume of TCC impressions analyzed -- in which multiple entities involved in the transaction have achieved the TAG Certified Against Fraud Seal -- has skyrocketed more than 114-fold, from 6.5 billion impressions in the first year of the study to 745 billion this year.
Miss Out on an Invaluable Discussion in a TAG Working Group? Catch Up Here!
The Working Group Brief is the monthly TAG Working Group newsletter. The Working Group Brief shares the details of the conversations had in the most recent meet, topic areas that will be discussed in the next call and details of the next working group.
Where in the World Was TAG in 2024?
- Advertising Association: LEAD 2024 – London, UK
- The Alliance: The Future of Ad Trading – London, UK
- ANA Media Conference – Orlando, FL
- IAPP Global Privacy Summit – Washington, DC
- Possible – Miami, FL
- Brand Safety Summit London – London, UK
- Advertising Week Europe – London, UK
- Cannes Lions – Cannes, France
- Adzine Connect – Berlin, Germany
- Mad//Fest – London, UK
- Westminster Media Forum – London, UK
- State of the Fight – New York, NY
- Advertising Week NYC – New York, NY
- Brand Safety Summit NYC – New York, NY
- IAB Tech Lab Summit – New York, NY
- Marketing Club of New York Silver Apple Awards – New York, NY
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.
Topics: Blog
