TAG TrustNet Expands to Reach More Ad Industry Participants in Markets Beyond UK

TAG TrustNet is going global!

An industry initiative that is establishing the shared truth for digital ad spend by leveraging the power of distributed ledger technology (DLT), TAG TrustNet was formally launched in February following the conclusion of a successful twelve-month cross-industry pilot programme and a subsequent industry consultation last year, both in coordination with TAG’s technology partner, Fiducia.

The pilot included brands such as Nestlé, McDonalds, Virgin, O2/Telefonica, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Santander; larger agency trading groups such as WPP, Publicis, OMG, Havas, IPG, Dentsu Aegis; and a number of technology vendors and publishers.

Using DLT, TAG TrustNet primarily focuses on two key industry challenges:

1) making it easier to transact on TAG Certified inventory, thus strengthening the industry’s efforts to fight ad fraud and advance brand safety, and

2) creating a single, trusted record for such transactions so reporting reconciliation amongst actors throughout the supply chain is easier, cheaper, and more transparent.

Commenting on their participation, Simon Reip, Head of Digital J3, UM for Johnson & Johnson, said, “J&J and J3 are excited to be supporting the potentially groundbreaking TAG TrustNet pilot, helping lay down the foundations to a more transparent programmatic ecosystem. Only together as a cross-industry consortium can we truly solve this problem, and it’s great to see so many partners willing to take part.”

Sohel Modi, Ad tech Strategy and Implementation lead at Telefonica said “We believe TAG Trustnet can provide the answers advertisers have always been looking for when it comes to digital advertising: a unified view of our supply chain by connecting the data from all our suppliers. The pilot has convinced us that DLT in the context of an industry led network is the right solution to help us understand where our adspend is going and to optimise our media spend accordingly.”

“One of TAG’s main objectives has always been increasing trust and transparency within digital advertising, and TAG TrustNet is proving itself to be a valuable tool. With a 95%+ match rate from the UK pilot, utilising DLT to increase security and provide more clarity across the supply chain is the start of a new era for the industry,” said Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG. “By expanding TAG TrustNet to include more participants, we can further evaluate the best ways to implement this technology more broadly across the industry on a global scale.”

For more information on TAG TrustNet, including inquiries and engagement from potential new partners who would like to participate in the program, please contact Adrian Lacey at adrian@tagtoday.net

IPA backs programmatic project that benefits agencies

TAG TrustNet will improve the transactional transparency and accountability of digital media procurement.

The IPA has expressed its full support for TAG TrustNet, a new phase of TAG’s ongoing Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) initiative, to improve the transactional transparency and accountability of digital media procurement.

The project uses blockchain technology, specifically DLT, to establish a common “truth” on metrics to improve the efficiency of reporting for all stakeholders, including the verification of TAG certification status for inventory.

"While driving efficiencies, this initiative will also enable greater transparency in line with real, demanding regulatory requirements in a way that will allow us to regain the trust we’ve lost due to the evolving proliferation in this area."

Nigel Vaz, IPA President and CEO of Publicis Sapient

In terms of specific benefits to agencies, TAG TrustNet: Improves programmatic planning and buying

• Provides full transparency on your budget allocation and impression delivery across the programmatic supply chain.

• Reduces wastage by allocating budgets to accountable network partners driving value.

• Improves performance by accessing end-to-end supply chain impression data in near-real-time to identify optimisation opportunities.

• Reduces risk to your client’s reputation by defining and verifying supply for quality and brand safety.

Reduces operational costs

• Automates data formatting, reconciliation, reporting, leaving more time for analytics and optimisation.

• Instantly activates business relations and log file sharing with trusted supply chain partners.

• Significantly reduces time spent on legal, finance and administrative tasks.

• Showcases your credentials with industry standards with industry-first live compliance reporting.

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The Brand-Led Push for Ad-Tech Transparency Is Now In Full Swing

Keeping an eye on programmatic spend is fast becoming

the difference between smart and dumb money

By Ethan Wu

Programmatic advertisers have a seemingly straightforward problem: They’ve been spending a dollar for as little as a quarter in value. Yet despite hemorrhaging ad spend, opaque supply chains and inertia have made for slow progress in accountability.

Now, at last, brands are beginning to pay attention to where their programmatic dollars go. Firms focused on supply path optimization (SPO) have seen a surge of interest in recent months as marketers look to cut down on waste, fraud and service fees in the nearly $80 billion programmatic ad market.

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