Thursday 6^th January 2022 - Beijing & Washington DC. China Advertising Association (CAA) and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) – a cross-industry self-regulatory initiative to fight criminal activity and promote brand safety in the digital advertising supply chain – have agreed a new standard to detect and remove Invalid Traffic (IVT), an important requirement of TAG’s Certified Against Fraud program, for use in China and other markets.

Building on the TAG-CAA partnership to introduce standards to tackle criminal activity and promote brand safety in digital advertising in China, the agreed IVT standard – known as the China digital advertising delivery monitoring and verification requirements T/CAAD 002-2020 - will provide companies in China and beyond with the General Invalid Traffic (GIVT) and Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) tools to comply with TAG’s Certified Against Fraud program. The new standard will be applicable from 1 July 2022.

Companies will still be able to use the Media Rating Council’s IVT guidelines if they choose to. However, the new IVT standard is “another TAG-recognized standard for IVT detection and removal”, an important requirement for companies when seeking to comply with TAG’s anti-fraud standard.

TAG’s Certified Against Fraud standard is already having a significant impact on reducing ad fraud in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the USA and key markets in Europe, with rates over 90% lower when advertisers use TAG certified distribution channels compared to industry averages.

Independent validation of the anti-fraud standard remains mandatory for businesses operating in China. Self-attestation is not an option. China Digital Advertising Technology Laboratory (CDA Tech Lab) - a joint initiative between CAA and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) - offers independent validation services, along with existing providers.

In addition to TAG’s Certified Against Fraud program, companies are able to minimize the risk of ad misplacement (such as ad-supported piracy) via TAG’s Brand Safety certification and work together to combat threats to the digital advertising supply chain, such as malware.

Zhang Guo Hua, Chairman of China Advertising Association, said: “CAA and TAG have continued to work closely to develop this IVT detection and removal standard that companies – especially CAA members - can use to meet the TAG Certified Against Fraud program. We welcome this and encourage businesses to sign up and comply to offer advertisers cleaner inventory.”

Mike Zaneis, President and CEO at TAG, said: “The new IVT detection and removal standard demonstrates TAG’s ‘Global Standards for Local Markets’ approach in practice: a consistent international way to tackle ad fraud but one that is localized and apt for the Chinese market.”

About CAA

Founded in 1983, China Advertising Association (CAA) is a national non-profit industry organisation voluntarily formed by advertising business units including advertisers, advertising operators, advertising publishers, advertising endorsers (celebrity management agencies), advertising (marketing) research agencies, advertising equipment supply agencies, as well as local advertising industry organizations and advertising educational research institutions, and etc. Holding around 2000 member companies currently, CAA is the collection of the core resources and strength of the advertising and marketing industry in China and therefore serves as an important platform and service carrier for China’s creativity to integrate with the international vision, and the local market to link the global economy - www.china-caa.org.

About TAG

TAG is the leading certification program fighting criminal activity and increasing trust in the digital advertising industry. TAG’s mission is to eliminate fraudulent traffic, combat malware, prevent internet piracy, and promote brand safety in digital advertising. TAG advances those initiatives by bringing companies across the digital advertising supply chain together to set the highest standards - www.tagtoday.net.