Dentsu champions IAB Gold Standard 2.1 certification to boost supply chain transparency

Dentsu UK is proudly championing the latest IAB Gold Standard 2.1 certification as part of its ongoing commitment to advancing supply chain transparency within the advertising industry.

Digital advertising fraud has continued an upward trajectory in recent years, with Juniper Research's recent report suggesting 22% of 2023 digital spend was lost to ad fraud, with a further 127 billion dollars forecast by 2028. Dentsu recognises there has never been a greater need for digital transparency standards.

The IAB Gold Standard certification focuses on addressing important challenges around fraudulent ads, brand safety, GDPR and transparency in the digital eco-system, existing as a demonstratable force for positive change by holding the industry to universal standards.

Dentsu has been a vocal advocate of the IAB's Gold Standard as part of our continued effort to deliver a healthier, more sustainable advertising experience, aligning with our core philosophy of Sanpo Yoshi: better for people, better for society, better for business. We are working hard to achieve accreditation in line with the Gold Certification 2.1 update, which builds upon the existing foundation by introducing new protocols spanning the entire supply chain.

To achieve Gold Standard Certification 2.1, Dentsu will show commitment to IAB's Tech Labs transparency standards, working to ensure partners across the supply chain incorporate protocols such as DemandChain Object which allows the supplier of an ad to view all parties involved in buying creative within a bid response, and Buyers.Json, which requires parties involved in the chain to declare which buyers they represent, and communicate to all partners that Open Measurement SDK are essential for present and future media buying.

MD of addressable and commerce John Thankamony, who heads up the UK programmatic team, said: "We've been working on a number of initiatives to ensure inventory quality across formats. This includes working with brand safety partners, deploying bespoke propriety tech, and working on curating inventory to ensure we increase investment into working media. The IAB Gold Standard fits right into this and ensures that there are winners across both the buy side and sell side - advertisers getting access to quality, brand-safe media and ensuring publishers that invest in quality content and user experiences continue to get investment."