Brand safety has always been a concern for agencies who make ad placement decisions for their brand clients and for direct to consumer advertisers. Ad buys need to be made in good faith and not appear associated with content that is inappropriate or which stands in conflict with the brand’s values and guidelines. Brand Safety continues to be of utmost importance as new forms of advertising, such as CTV and within online marketplaces, are poised to explode.

In today’s viral social world, a bad ad placement is not only harmful to the brand but a very visible embarrassment to the agency responsible. With the rise of programmatic advertising as a valuable ad performance tool, agencies need to be even more vigilant about where they make ad placements and the companies they trust in their buying decisions.

Organizations such as IAB help agencies discern which ad platforms are trusted by certifying them against stringent requirements and audits. IAB’s gold certification is the highest level the organization gives to platforms who demonstrate meeting the requirements and pass the audit.

Moloco is proud to announce that Moloco Cloud DSP has achieved IAB Gold Standard 2.0 certification! A requirement for achieving the highest IAB certification is also obtaining TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) Global Brand Safety Certification.

Collectively, digital advertising companies must invest in brand safety and other standards to improve trust, transparency and credibility in the broader ecosystem. Moloco is committed to working with the industry trade bodies to raise the bar for digital advertising standards.

“The Gold Standard is central to our mission to build a sustainable future for digital advertising, requiring active support from across the industry, so it’s brilliant to have Moloco certified and a huge congratulations to the team,” said Chloe Nicholls, Head of Ad Tech, IAB UK.

What does it take to achieve Gold Standard 2.0 certification status?

Companies who invest in the time and effort to meet IAB Gold Standard 2.0 certification demonstrate their commitment to brand safety. While not an exhaustive list of requirements, below are important criteria that companies must adhere to:

• Demonstrate that anti-fraud filtering is built into the ad platform
• Provide evidence of adherence to the guidelines set by CBA (Coalition for Better Ads)
• Complete the IAB Gold Standard training
• TAG Global Brand Safety Certification
• IAB Ads.txt and/or App-ads.txt support
• OpenRTB Sellers.Json and SupplyChainObject support
• Achieve TAG Global Brand Safety certification which includes:

• Monitoring ad placement for buyers, sellers and any intermediaries
• Evidence that all ad placement agreements adhere to brand safety principles
• Annual training
• Employ anti-piracy filtering

Moloco developed its own proprietary tools, algorithms, and processes that enabled it to achieve the IAB Gold Standard.

Not all Demand Side Platforms like Moloco Cloud DSP have this certification. Brands and agencies should ensure that the ad platforms they entrust with their ad spend have a shared concern about brand safety. Moloco is proud to join the ranks of the world’s leading agencies who care about the safety of the brands they represent.

Learn more about Moloco’s commitment to brand safety.