UK and US Back Single Ad Fraud Industry Standard

Cross-industry standards bodies in the UK and US - JICWEBS and TAG - have announced the next stage in their partnership, with the adoption of the TAG 'Certified Against Fraud' programme in the UK from 1st January 2019.

Earlier this year, JICWEBS (the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards) and TAG (the Trustworthy Accountability Group) agreed to align many of their key initiatives to tackle major issues facing digital advertising. Specifically, JICWEBS said it would offer TAG Registration in the UK market and introduce TAG's Certified Against Malware and Certified Against Piracy initiatives into the UK; while its existing anti-fraud initiatives would be merged into TAG's Certified Against Fraud programme by the end of 2018.

Now, the two organisations have announced that this TAG programme - which has seen an 83% reduction in fraud in TAG certified channels in the US - will be adopted in the UK at the beginning of 2019, and in the UK, it will be mandatory for participating companies to be independently audited by a third party. Apart from the benefit of aligning behind one set of anti-fraud standards, the roll out will help the organizations meet their shared goal of delivering: 'global standards for local markets', while setting a template for a global approach on other standards.

TAG is also planning to merge its Inventory Quality Guidelines (IQG) with JICWEBS DTSG Brand Safety Standards in 2019. Mike Zaneis, President and CEO of TAG, said the UK and US will now benefit from one standard in both markets, and his organization is looking forward to working with JICWEBS to align approaches further. Richard Foan, Executive Chairman of JICWEBS, added: 'The battle against online ad fraud is global, and it's best tackled with an aligned approach. By adopting TAG's 'Certified Against Fraud' programme, the UK market will benefit from a proven approach that has delivered impressive results in the US.'

Web sites are at www.jicwebs.org and www.tagtoday.net .