Ad Tech and Martech
Integral Ad Science | October 19, 2023
Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS), a leading global media measurement and optimization platform, today announced a new Made for Advertising (MFA) AI-driven site detection and avoidance product. The company's MFA site technology aims to improve transparency into advertiser campaign quality, identify where spend is being allocated, and inform optimizations to minimize waste on MFA sites.
MFA sites are web pages featuring low quality content (e.g. spam sites, or ad farms) created solely to serve ads, and are optimized to perform well against traditional verification metrics, such as viewability. However, advertising spend on these sites does not drive meaningful outcomes, such as conversions or brand lift.
IAS's new product leverages AI to uncover MFA sites at scale, allowing advertisers to take back control of their media quality and cut down on wasted spend. During Alpha testing, IAS delivered comprehensive campaign analysis demonstrating superior MFA site identification for some of the world's largest advertisers and agencies.
IAS's product supports the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) recent definition of MFA sites and incorporates characteristics such as ad-to-content ratio, ad refresh rate, and the source of the traffic coming to the site to classify a site as MFA. According to the ANA's Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study, 21% of all advertisement impressions measured were served on MFA sites.
Our MFA product was built to deliver unprecedented transparency to advertisers and provide them with the ability to both detect and avoid MFA sites in order to redirect their ad spend to publishers that drive a return, said Yannis Dosios, Chief Commercial Officer, Integral Ad Science. The industry faces a significant challenge in combating MFA sites. By leveraging AI, we have developed a scalable way to identify these low quality sources of inventory and improve overall campaign performance.
Advertisers and their agencies need confidence that the industry is converging on agreement about the specific websites that compose the MFA category. By training its model against Jounce Media's widely adopted list of MFA domains and incorporating signals from Sincera, IAS has developed the industry's first pressure tested solution for detecting and blocking MFA at scale.
"Advertisers should recognize that MFA websites can account for a significant portion of their overall campaign and should determine, independently, if MFA sites fit with their brand suitability standards for content and user experience. We applaud IAS for taking action after we released the findings from our programmatic transparency report and for supporting our definition of MFA," said Bill Duggan, ANA group executive vice president. "We have found that awareness of MFA sites among the ANA community of media professionals to be limited – which is surprising. We look forward to further developments from IAS around MFA site identification and ad spend optimization to help better educate and inform buyers."
The IAS MFA product completed alpha testing in early October 2023, and is available now as a beta measurement offering for select customers. General availability is expected to expand to all customers in early 2024.
About Integral Ad Science
Integral Ad Science (IAS) is a leading global media measurement and optimization platform that delivers the industry's most actionable data to drive superior results for the world's largest advertisers, publishers, and media platforms. IAS's software provides comprehensive and enriched data that ensures ads are seen by real people in safe and suitable environments, while improving return on ad spend for advertisers and yield for publishers. Our mission is to be the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality. For more information, visit integralads.com.
Read More
Advertiser Platforms
Business Wire | October 10, 2023
Streaming TV advertising is taking a step toward the future. This week, TV advertising agency Marketing Architects launched a new platform for CTV advertisers called Annika Streaming. Based on technology initially developed for linear TV, Annika Streaming buys CTV and streaming inventory more efficiently than current marketplace offerings allow. This enables performance brands to capitalize on streaming’s potential.
Annika’s development began six years ago when Marketing Architects built an AI-powered DSP for linear TV. The platform was designed to evaluate custom audience and performance criteria, set it against market trends and historical data, then calculate which media buys will drive the best ROI for individual brands. The result was a linear TV marketplace that delivered premium inventory for TV advertisers without premium price tags.
But as viewership shifted to streaming and connected TV, it was essential brands follow consumers to the channel. Unfortunately for performance marketers, streaming’s promise of advanced targeting and measurement capabilities has been overshadowed by its high prices, typically 5-10X higher than linear TV.
To close this gap, Marketing Architects spent the last two years building a proprietary streaming capability, bringing the efficient prices Annika achieved in linear into streaming and CTV. Now, Annika Streaming solves some of the biggest challenges for performance marketers on the channel.
Pricing: Annika Streaming obtains rates significantly more efficient than industry-leading third-party DSPs. These are achieved through a data-driven approach that benefits streaming publishers and advertisers alike.
Targeting:The platform offers several layers of contextual, geographic, and dayparting targeting capabilities, plus retargeting.
Distribution: Annika is fully integrated with dozens of streaming publishers and buys inventory available on Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Firestick, and smart TVs.
Measurement: With Annika, advertisers get access to multiple measurement models running in parallel, including IP address tracking and holdout groups for incrementality testing.
Marketing Architects clients had first access to Annika Streaming, which they are currently using to complement linear TV campaigns. The platform is available to select new brands starting this week. Learn more by visiting marketingarchitects.com/streaming.
About Marketing Architects
Marketing Architects is an All-Inclusive TV agency that rebuilt the traditional agency model to help brands drive profitable growth. Founded in Minneapolis, Marketing Architects has spent 25 years building homegrown technology to solve TV's pricing, measurement and scale challenges. For more information, please visit www.marketingarchitects.com.
Read More
Ad Tech and Martech
CMSWire | September 15, 2023
InMobi, a leading provider of content, monetization and marketing technologies that help businesses fuel growth, today announced its strategic partnership with Ad Net Zero, the climate action program with the mission to accelerate the decarbonization of the advertising industry. This collaboration underscores InMobi's resolute commitment to sustainability, aligning with Ad Net Zero's mission to revolutionize the advertising landscape through decarbonization initiatives spanning ad production, distribution, and publication.
The global advertising industry is at a critical juncture, as it grapples with the environmental impact of its operations. Recent statistics underscore the urgency of the issue, with the internet’s greenhouse gas emissions comprising approximately 4% of the global total – surpassing even the aviation sector. Notably, the energy required to serve one million ad impressions is equivalent to the carbon produced by manufacturing 2.4 million plastic straws.
Recognizing the growing importance of sustainability in business decisions, InMobi has taken a proactive step by aligning itself with Ad Net Zero. As a leader in the ad tech industry, InMobi recognizes the significance of demonstrating sustainability efforts to both its existing clients and potential partners. A recent Deloitte survey highlights that 98% of consumers believe brands are responsible for contributing to a better world, and a considerable portion of consumers prefer to be patrons of sustainable brands.
By joining forces with Ad Net Zero, InMobi embarks on a journey to align with the organization's five-step plan, designed to minimize the carbon footprint of advertising:
Reduce emissions from advertising business operations
Decrease emissions stemming from advertising production
Diminish emissions from media planning and buying
Lessen advertising emissions from awards and events
Harness advertising's potential to drive behavioral change
InMobi's dedication to sustainability extends beyond rhetoric to measurable action. InMobi Exchange, powered by Microsoft Azure which boasts of complete carbon neutrality, stands as a testament to its commitment. Furthermore, data gleaned from the Microsoft Azure Impact Emissions Dashboard showcases InMobi's impressive emission reduction metrics:
InMobi's emission factor ranks within the top fifth percentile compared to average server emission factors
Server usage demonstrates a remarkable 80-90% higher green efficiency compared to alternative on-premise solutions, even high-efficiency ones
Direct SDK integrations, paired with machine learning, have driven emission reductions of up to 30%
"InMobi's partnership with Ad Net Zero symbolizes our dedication to ushering in a more sustainable era for the advertising industry," states Kunal Nagpal, Chief Business Officer at InMobi. "We are proud to stand alongside fellow tech companies and agencies, united in the pursuit of a greener, more responsible future. By fully embracing Ad Net Zero's comprehensive plan, we are steadfast in our commitment to minimizing our environmental impact while advancing the power of advertising."
"Ad Net Zero is thrilled to work with InMobi as they support more sustainable advertising solutions, contributing to our collective global impact. InMobi’s commitment is another significant step toward an eco-friendly future for the industry,” says John Osborn, Director of Ad Net Zero in the U.S.
InMobi’s partnership with Ad Net Zero follows its global sustainability commitment to Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), where InMobi is undergoing a 24-month goal validation process, at the end of which InMobi will commit to ambitious Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reduction targets in line with SBTi sector guidelines and the GHG Protocol standards.
InMobi also continues its partnership for the second year with Givsly, the leading purpose driven B2B marketing solution, and shared the stage with Givsly, Dentsu, and IPG Brands at Cannes Lions 2023 to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and the path that can be taken for a sustainable ad tech stack.
Recently, InMobi served as the primary audience partner in AdTechCares’ campaign with Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization working to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. AdTechCares is a 501 (c)(3) organization that leverages ad tech to combat misinformation and keep humanity well, and InMobi is a founding member.
About InMobi
InMobi is a leading provider of marketing and monetization technologies. With deep expertise and unique reach in mobile, it is a trusted and transparent technology partner for marketers, content creators and businesses of all kinds. InMobi’s mission is to power its customers’ growth by helping them engage their audiences and build meaningful connections. Its affiliated businesses – Glance, an unconsolidated subsidiary that offers a lock screen-based content discovery platform, and video platform Roposo – help InMobi create new content and commerce experiences in a world of connected devices. InMobi is headquartered in Singapore, maintains a large presence in San Francisco and Bangalore and has operations in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne, Seoul, Tokyo, London and Dubai. To learn more, visit inmobi.com.
About Ad Net Zero
Ad Net Zero is a climate action program to help the advertising industry tackle the climate emergency by decarbonizing ad operations and supporting every industry to accurately promote sustainable products and services. Originally founded by the UK Advertising Association in partnership with the IPA and ISBA, Ad Net Zero launched its 5-point action plan in the UK in November 2020 and has since gained over 100 UK supporters. The action plan aims to achieve net zero emissions in ad development, production, and media placement, as well as use advertising’s positive influence to help shift consumers towards more sustainable behavior. Its first non-UK territory launched in Ireland in June 2022, followed by a global roll-out at Cannes LIONS 2022. In February 2023, Ad Net Zero launched in the US, supported by the 4A’s, ANA and IAB, where it now counts over 70 supporters. Ad Net Zero has widespread backing from across the industry and proudly counts support from the world’s six biggest agency holding groups, media owners, tech companies, advertisers, and independent creative and production agencies. For more information, please visit www.adnetzero.com.
Read More