IAS launches brand safe, fraud-free programmatic tech solution for in-app ads

Integral Ad Science (IAS) has unveiled a first-to-market technology solution that helps programmatic advertisers target mobile in-app ads that are brand safe, free of fraud and have a viewability goal. The tool is already integrated into the trading process on several demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Eight in 10 US mobile digital display ads are traded programmatically, an amount that is expected to rise to 85.2 percent by 2019, according to eMarketer.

Since early 2017, when Procter & Gamble issued an ultimatum to programmatic sellers to be more transparent, we’ve seen many companies introduce brand safety solutions. But according to IAS, no one has introduced a mobile in-app solution.

The integration allows advertisers to customize their brand safety requirements and only choose ads that meet those guidelines. IAS also provides reporting and identification of optimization opportunities in real time.

David Hahn, IAS’s chief strategy officer, told me that advertisers want accountability.

“Advertisers want an independent third party to say this is exactly what’s happening on your campaigns and this is what was bought and this is how you’re actually executing your buy,” Hahn said. “This allows our advertising clients who buy programmatically to really optimize the media they’re buying and ensure that it is brand safe and has a high probability of being viewed.”

“What we provide is really making sure that from a brand’s perspective, that they’re buying ads that meet their guidelines and they’re not buying ads that are too violent or potentially have harmful adult content or derogatory speech in it — offensive language and the like,” he said.

IAS’s tool is integrated into a number of high-profile DSPs, such as Trade Desk, DoubleClick Bid Manager, Oath, Viant’s Adelphic, AppNexus and MediaMath.

Hahn said that buying programmatic in-mobile apps through the IAS integration drives better ROI for advertisers.

“They’re buying ads that have a high probability of actually being seen by the consumers. It really drives additional value to the dollar that an advertiser is putting in when buying mobile in-app inventory from programmatic channels,” Hahn said.

About The Author

Robin Kurzer

Robin Kurzer started her career as a daily newspaper reporter in Milford, Connecticut. She then made her mark on the advertising and marketing world in Chicago at agencies such as Tribal DDB and Razorfish, creating award-winning work for many major brands. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a freelance writer and communications professional across a variety of business sectors.