DUBAI: The Advertising Business Group and Interactive Advertising Bureau have partnered with the Trustworthy Accountability Group to launch TAG’s international standards in Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

TAG is a cross-industry, self-regulatory initiative to fight criminal activity and promote brand safety in the digital advertising supply chain. In 2016, it launched the Certified Against Fraud Program to combat invalid traffic in the digital advertising supply chain.

The program has made a significant impact on reducing ad fraud across the world. In the US, key markets in Europe, and several markets in the Asia-Pacific region, ad fraud rates were found to be over 90 percent lower when advertisers used TAG-certified distribution channels compared to industry averages.

Elda Choucair, CEO of Omnicom Media Group MENA and vice-chair of ABG, told Arab News: “The launch of TAG (in the GCC) is another example of how our region is growing up, working together to drive meaningful improvements in trust and transparency. 

“It is a fantastic initiative sorely needed in our region and one that will reward publishers that deliver trusted, high quality, and safe media.”

Since TAG was established in 2015, it has worked with over 700 companies from 40 countries. Its international standards were launched via webinar on Nov. 17, encouraging companies in the region to get involved and play their part in tackling criminal activity and promoting a more brand-safe environment for advertisers. Many international businesses are already applying TAG’s requirements in the region.

Subject to TAG’s working processes, independent validation of the anti-fraud standard will be mandatory for businesses operating in the GCC region. Self-attestation will not be an option and international businesses that wish to apply their existing TAG certifications in the GCC region will need to ensure their compliance is independently validated.

In addition to TAG’s Certified Against Fraud Program, it has also launched a Brand Safety certification to minimize the risk of ad misplacement and tackle the issue of “malvertising” via its Certified Against Malware standard.

Companies will also be able to work together to combat threats to the digital advertising supply chain via TAG’s Threat Sharing Exchange program. 

“The IAB is partnering with TAG and the ABG to bring industry standards to tackle serious challenges, such as ad fraud, to the GCC digital advertising market,” Ian Manning, CEO of IAB GCC, said in a statement. “Not only will this support many international business’ existing approaches, but it will also raise the benchmark for local ones — reducing fraud, stimulating growth, and driving trust in our industry.”