What are digital publisher audits? If You Buy Display Ads, You’ll Want to Know

We all know that programmatic advertising makes buying ads more efficient. It’s known as the quickest and easiest way to reach your target audience at scale. While programmatic buying has made buyers’ lives easier, it has also created a few headaches along the way including a lack of transparency, digital ad fraud, and ads appearing on websites that put brand safety at risk and possibly fund misinformation.

Fortunately, the industry has developed several solutions to bring about greater transparency and help marketers find partners that follow industry standards and provide human audiences and greater ROI.

One of the latest solutions addresses these issues at the publisher level. Digital Publisher Audits were developed by the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), a not-for-profit organization that has been providing print and digital media assurance to Canadian and U.S. buyers and publishers for more than 100 years. Here’s an overview of what marketers should know about audits.

Why do publishers need to be audited?

Many marketers and agencies have a vetting process to create their inclusion lists of sites to advertise. This process might include using technology to detect fraud or target contextually and visiting websites and examining content to determine if a website appears legitimate. However, these advertiser-side approaches might not reveal what’s happening behind the scenes. Digital Publisher Audits take a deep dive into a publisher’s business processes and website traffic to determine if they are doing everything possible to minimize fraud risk.

So, what exactly is a Digital Publisher Audit?

The audit is a thorough analysis of a publisher’s website to gain insights into whether processes are in place to consistently deliver a human audience. Auditors assess the quality and quantity of website traffic by tagging the website, establishing benchmarks and analyzing data. The audit also examines a publisher’s business practices and evaluates whether the processes in place are delivering accurate, reliable and consistent data. Traffic is continuously monitored for baseline variances and any anomalies are mitigated accordingly.

How do audits help marketers?

When ads appear on fraudulent websites, marketers end up wasting money on sites that don’t offer real engagement or ROI. Publisher audits help marketers find trusted partners committed to providing transparency, minimizing fraud risk and delivering to human audiences. Marketers can add audited publishers to inclusion lists and prioritize them in DSPs and direct buys. By investing in audited websites, marketers will have more confidence in where their money is going and have greater confidence that their ads are reaching human audiences.

But I thought fraud wasn’t a big problem anymore?

While industry solutions have helped mitigate some issues, ad fraud still drains billions from the industry. One report estimates that Canadian marketers lost $578 million to ad fraud in 2020. As fraud tactics evolve and enter new channels, solutions also need to evolve. The best defence against fraud is to implement multiple industry tools created by industry organizations such as AAM, IAB Tech Lab, Media Rating Council (MRC) and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) to increase assurance and address fraud from different angles.

I’m using fraud detection software. Why do I need to partner with audited publishers?

Partnering with an MRC-accredited fraud detection vendor in place is a great start, but these tools are focused on the ad delivery perspective. Digital Publisher Audits are focused on the publisher perspective. Multiple solutions layered together form the strongest defence.

Where do I find audited digital publishers?

Marketers can find audited publishers like The Globe and Mail and Readers Digest Canada on the AAM Audited Domain List. Audited publishers are also included in the IAB Tech Lab Transparency Center, an online resource that aggregates data from across the supply chain to help buyers and sellers learn more about the industry standards and compliance programs their digital advertising partners adhere to.

What else can I do to promote media transparency?

Marketers need to include audited partners in their media plans and be vocal with their partners about the importance of providing greater transparency. Marketers must ask for transparency and prioritize partners that use industry standards and solutions. If marketers continue to invest in quality publishers, not only will they see improvements in their campaign ROI, but they’ll help promote increased transparency, which elevates the entire supply chain.

Learn more about the AAM Audited Domain List and download it at auditedmedia.com.

Angie Sanna, Director, Client Solutions, Alliance for Audited Media