IAS earns MRC accreditation for third-party Amazon DSP measurement

Integral Ad Science secured Media Rating Council accreditation for its third-party measurement capabilities on Amazon DSP properties on November 13, 2025. The certification validates IAS's server-to-server integration for tracking impression, viewability, and invalid traffic data across Amazon's programmatic advertising platform.

The accreditation marks the first time an independent verification provider has received MRC certification for these specific metrics within Amazon's advertising ecosystem, according to the announcement. IAS's measurement solution covers both display and video advertisements across desktop web, mobile web, and mobile app environments.

The server-to-server integration enables real-time reporting while maintaining Amazon DSP's privacy and data protection requirements. Advertisers running campaigns through Amazon DSP can now access MRC-accredited metrics including impression counts, viewable impressions meeting industry visibility standards, and invalid traffic detection for fraudulent or non-human activity.

"This accreditation validates the accuracy and transparency of IAS's measurement solutions, reinforcing our commitment to helping advertisers measure what matters most—performance they can trust," according to the announcement from IAS.

The Media Rating Council, established in 1963, operates as a non-profit organization that audits and accredits measurement services across digital, television, radio, print, and out-of-home media. MRC accreditation requires services to meet minimum standards through independent audits conducted by certified public accounting firms.

Amazon DSP previously received MRC accreditation for display measurement in May 2024, covering begin-to-render impressions and click-through metrics across third-party exchanges and Fire TV environments. The platform has systematically expanded its measurement capabilities throughout 2024 and 2025, including the launch of unified reporting systems and brand lift measurement tools across eight countries.

The IAS accreditation addresses a fundamental challenge in programmatic advertising: many platforms restrict independent verification or provide measurement only through offline clean room environments. This limitation forces advertisers to rely on internal platform reporting that may not reflect complete campaign performance.

Independent third-party measurement has become increasingly critical as advertisers allocate larger portions of their budgets to retail media networks and walled garden platforms. The lack of standardized verification creates accountability gaps that complicate cross-platform performance comparison and budget allocation decisions.

IAS's integration provides near real-time measurement while meeting Amazon's strict privacy requirements. The system processes campaign data through a secure server-to-server connection that prevents exposure of personally identifiable information or proprietary Amazon data assets.

The accredited metrics cover three core measurement categories. Impression measurement ensures accurate delivery data for every ad served through the platform. Viewable impression tracking confirms advertisements meet industry standards for visibility, typically requiring 50% of pixels in view for at least one second for display ads and two seconds for video content. Invalid traffic detection identifies and filters fraudulent activity including bot traffic, data center traffic, and other non-human engagement patterns.

Advertisers access these metrics through Amazon DSP's standard reporting interfaces without requiring additional implementation work. The MRC accreditation applies specifically to data reported through designated measurement templates, with metrics available through both user interface dashboards and programmatic API connections.

DoubleVerify became the first third-party provider to measure Amazon Custom Audiences in November 2023, offering viewability, brand suitability, and fraud detection through server-to-server integration. The IAS accreditation expands verified measurement options available to advertisers operating on Amazon's platform.

The certification arrives as Amazon continues consolidating its advertising infrastructure. The company launched its Campaign Manager platform on November 10, 2025, combining sponsored ads and Amazon DSP into a unified interface with AI-powered optimization features. Amazon introduced AI targeting capabilities for DSP campaigns on November 12, 2025, enabling natural language audience selection and automated segment recommendations.

IAS has established itself as a major player in independent advertising verification. The company received MRC accreditation for YouTube viewability measurement in March 2024, covering desktop, mobile web, and mobile in-app environments across multiple ad formats. IAS also maintains continued MRC accreditation for Meta platform measurement, processing third-party data for viewability reporting on Facebook and Instagram.

The measurement provider expanded its capabilities throughout 2024 and 2025 with products including Quality Attention, which combines media quality assessment with eye-tracking data and machine learning. Studies cited by IAS demonstrate conversion rate improvements up to 130% for advertisements receiving high attention scores compared to low-attention impressions.

IAS became the first company to receive Ethical AI Certification from the Alliance for Audited Media in July 2025, following comprehensive audits of its AI governance framework, data quality controls, and bias mitigation systems. The company's platform analyzes up to 280 billion interactions daily across global markets.

North American private equity firm Novacap agreed to acquire IAS for $1.9 billion in September 2025, valuing shares at $10.30 each in an all-cash transaction expected to close by the end of 2025. The acquisition takes the publicly traded measurement company private.

The Amazon DSP accreditation matters for advertisers seeking verified performance data across multiple platforms. Retail media networks including Amazon have grown substantially as advertisers shift budgets toward channels offering first-party consumer data and closed-loop attribution. However, the absence of standardized third-party measurement has created challenges for marketers attempting to assess relative performance across different retail media environments.

Independent verification enables advertisers to compare campaign effectiveness using consistent methodologies rather than platform-specific metrics that may employ different counting standards or quality thresholds. The MRC accreditation provides assurance that reported metrics comply with industry-established standards for measurement validity and reliability.

Amazon's advertising business has experienced significant growth, though the company does not break out Amazon DSP revenue separately from overall advertising services. The broader advertising services segment generated substantial revenue increases throughout 2024 and 2025 as brands allocated larger portions of their digital marketing budgets to retail media channels.

The server-to-server integration model employed by IAS represents a technical approach designed to balance measurement accuracy with privacy protection. Traditional third-party verification often requires placing tracking pixels or tags directly on publisher pages, which can expose user data or create latency issues. Server-to-server connections process campaign data through secure backend systems without exposing individual user information.

This architecture has become increasingly important as privacy regulations including GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California impose restrictions on data sharing and user tracking. Measurement providers must design solutions that deliver verification capabilities while maintaining compliance with evolving privacy frameworks.

The accreditation covers measurement across multiple inventory sources accessed through Amazon DSP. Advertisers can verify campaigns running on Amazon-owned properties as well as third-party supply sources available through the demand-side platform. This comprehensive coverage enables consistent measurement regardless of where advertisements appear within the programmatic ecosystem.

Amazon has systematically expanded Amazon DSP's capabilities and inventory access throughout 2025. The platform added Spotify's global audio and video inventory across nine markets in October 2025, integrated SiriusXM Media in September 2025, and incorporated Netflix inventory in September 2025. These partnerships expanded the addressable inventory available to advertisers while creating additional measurement requirements.

The MRC accreditation process requires ongoing compliance rather than a one-time certification. Accredited services must submit to annual audits conducted by independent accounting firms engaged by the MRC. These audits verify that measurement methodologies continue meeting industry standards and that reported metrics accurately reflect underlying data.

Services must also pay audit costs including both internal and external expenses associated with the verification process. The MRC requires complete information disclosure and compliance with minimum standards across all accredited measurement operations.

Invalid traffic detection represents a critical component of the accredited measurement suite. Sophisticated fraud schemes continue evolving, requiring measurement providers to develop detection capabilities that identify new threat patterns. Invalid traffic can include bot-generated impressions, data center traffic, hidden advertisements, and various other schemes designed to generate illegitimate advertising revenue.

The financial impact of invalid traffic affects advertisers through wasted budget allocation and distorted performance metrics. Industry estimates suggest invalid traffic costs advertisers billions of dollars annually through payments for non-human impressions that cannot generate legitimate business outcomes.

IAS's detection methodology employs machine learning models trained on billions of impressions to identify patterns associated with invalid traffic. The system analyzes multiple signals including user behavior patterns, network characteristics, device attributes, and engagement metrics to classify traffic as valid or invalid.

Viewability measurement addresses whether advertisements have the opportunity to be seen by real users. An impression may be counted as delivered even if it loads below the fold of a webpage or in a background browser tab where users cannot view it. Viewability standards established by the MRC require specific pixel visibility thresholds and minimum display durations.

For standard display advertisements, the MRC defines viewability as 50% of pixels visible for at least one continuous second. Video advertisements require a higher threshold of 50% of pixels visible for at least two continuous seconds to qualify as viewable. Large display advertisements exceeding 242,500 pixels apply a reduced 30% visibility threshold.

These standards create consistency across the industry, enabling advertisers to compare viewability rates across different platforms and inventory sources. The MRC accreditation verifies that IAS correctly implements these measurement standards when reporting Amazon DSP campaign performance.

Timeline

• May 2024: Amazon DSP receives MRC accreditation for display begin-to-render impressions and click-throughs across third-party exchanges and Fire TV environments
• July 2025: IAS receives Ethical AI Certification from Alliance for Audited Media
• September 2025: Novacap agrees to acquire IAS for $1.9 billion in all-cash transaction
• November 10, 2025: Amazon launches unified Campaign Manager platform combining sponsored ads and DSP
• November 11, 2025: Amazon announces unified reporting system in open beta
• November 12, 2025: Amazon introduces AI targeting for DSP campaigns
• November 13, 2025: IAS earns MRC accreditation for third-party measurement on Amazon DSP properties

Summary

Who: Integral Ad Science, a global media measurement and optimization platform, received accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its Amazon DSP measurement capabilities. The certification validates independent third-party verification for advertisers, agencies, and brands running programmatic campaigns through Amazon's demand-side platform.

What: MRC accreditation for server-to-server integration of Amazon DSP impression, viewability, and invalid traffic data into IAS's measurement platform. The certification covers both display and video advertisements across desktop web, mobile web, and mobile app environments, providing independent validation of campaign metrics including accurate impression delivery, viewability meeting industry standards, and detection of fraudulent non-human traffic.

When: The accreditation was announced on November 13, 2025, representing a milestone in independent verification for Amazon's programmatic advertising ecosystem.

Where: The measurement solution operates through Amazon DSP's programmatic advertising platform, covering campaigns running on Amazon-owned properties and third-party supply sources accessible through the demand-side platform across global markets.

Why: The accreditation addresses advertiser demand for independent verification of campaign performance across walled garden platforms that typically restrict third-party measurement or provide verification only through offline clean room environments. Independent validation enables advertisers to assess campaign effectiveness using consistent industry-standard methodologies rather than relying solely on internal platform reporting, supporting more informed budget allocation decisions and cross-platform performance comparison.