IAS and OpenX join forces to boost brand safety and ad quality measurement

On September 27, 2024, Integral Ad Science (IAS) announced a strategic partnership with OpenX, a leading omnichannel supply-side platform. This collaboration aims to provide advertisers with enhanced brand safety, suitability, and invalid traffic measurement across OpenX's global publisher network.

The IAS-OpenX partnership introduces several key features:

1. Comprehensive Brand Safety: The integration ensures advertisers can access brand-safe and suitable inventory throughout OpenX's global network, spanning web, in-app, and premium Connected TV (CTV) environments.
2. Fraud Detection: Publishers gain improved ability to proactively detect and report fraud and invalid traffic (IVT) at the impression level, eliminating potential blind spots.
3. Data Enrichment: Advertisers receive access to additional metrics, including attention data, to deliver enhanced value through custom inventory packages and segments for programmatic direct and private marketplace (PMP) deals.

This partnership arrives at a critical time for the digital advertising industry. According to the Association of National Advertisers, 21% of ad impressions, representing 15% of ad spend, is wasted on Made-For-Advertising (MFA) sites.

James Wilhite, VP of Product at Publica by IAS, stated, "Our partnership with OpenX further demonstrates our commitment to helping publishers maximize yield and grow their audiences, while assuring advertisers that they are investing their spend in brand safe and suitable inventory."

Gil Sommer, VP of Global Product at OpenX, added, "OpenX's partnership with IAS reflects our focus on driving innovation and providing best-in-class solutions across all digital channels by extending our audience modeling capabilities."

Recent IAS developments

The OpenX partnership follows several recent IAS initiatives:

• February 2024: Launch of IAS for Publishers, a new user interface designed to help publishers maximize yield and grow audiences.
• April 2024: Enhancement of IAS for Publishers to include reporting on MFA and Ad Clutter, providing insights into inventory quality.

Technical implementation

The supply-side integration leverages IAS's AI-driven measurement technologies to analyze content across OpenX's inventory. This allows for:

1. Real-time assessment of brand safety and suitability factors.
2. Impression-level fraud and IVT detection.
3. Collection and analysis of attention metrics for enhanced targeting.

Benefits for advertisers and publishers

Advertisers:

• Increased confidence in inventory quality
• Access to more granular data for campaign optimization
• Potential for improved return on ad spend (ROAS)

Publishers:

• Enhanced ability to identify and mitigate fraud
• Potential for higher yield and monetization opportunities
• Tools to demonstrate inventory quality to advertisers

This partnership addresses growing concerns about ad quality and effectiveness in the digital ecosystem. As advertisers scrutinize their spending more closely, solutions that provide transparency and quality assurance are becoming increasingly valuable.

The IAS-OpenX collaboration may set a precedent for similar partnerships in the ad tech industry. As measurement capabilities become more sophisticated, we may see:

1. Increased emphasis on attention metrics in ad buying decisions
2. Further integration of AI-driven solutions across the ad tech stack
3. Growing demand for unified measurement across diverse media channels, including emerging formats like CTV

Key Facts

• Partnership announced: September 27, 2024
• Platforms covered: Web, in-app, and CTV
• Key technologies: AI-driven brand safety, suitability, and invalid traffic measurement
• Recent IAS developments: New publisher UI (February 2024), MFA and Ad Clutter reporting (April 2024)