Understanding the brand safety landscape
The digital ad ecosystem runs on trust, and that trust is maintained through a network of self-regulatory organisations, technical standards groups, and technology vendors. Together, they make it possible to protect against fraud, ensure transparency, and promote quality across the board.
You’ve probably heard the names before: TAG, the MRC, the IAB, the IAB Tech Lab, and in Japan, JIAA and JICDAQ. These are industry bodies that establish industry standards and guide best practices.
In addition, you have vendors like DoubleVerify, IAS, and HUMAN. These companies build the tech to apply those standards, whether it’s filtering traffic, measuring viewability, or flagging bad actors.
IAB and IAB Tech Lab
Let’s start with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and its technical sister organisation, the IAB Tech Lab. The IAB includes dozens of local and regional IAB organisations worldwide, each operating independently to best suit the local market. These organisations work with their members to provide industry-standard guidance, conduct research, develop legal frameworks, and advocate for policy initiatives.
The IAB does significant educational work to help advance the industry: strengthening knowledge, skills, and collaboration across the digital advertising workforce. It also provides industry guidance on how companies can comply with regulations in different regions.
For example, IAB Canada offered guidance on complying with Canadian political advertising laws, while IAB UK provided timely updates on government regulations banning ads for “less healthy foods.”
Local IAB organisations may also grant certifications, like the Gold Standard from IAB UK, which evaluates companies on their fraud prevention, transparency, and sustainability practices.
The IAB Tech Lab builds the technical protocols to standardise programmatic advertising. In collaboration with industry stakeholders, it maintains specifications like the OpenRTB protocol, ads.txt, sellers.json, and the SupplyChain object. These technical standards don’t directly block fraud or ensure brand safety, but they make it possible for the ecosystem to function transparently and ensure quality.
IAB Tech Lab standards are shaped by working groups composed of industry participants, and proposals are shared publicly for comment so others in the industry can contribute feedback before they’re released.
One of the earliest contributions from the Tech Lab was a shared list of known bots and spiders to help companies identify non-human traffic—foundational work that still supports modern fraud detection today.
JIAA and JICDAQ
In Japan, the Japan Interactive Advertising Association (JIAA) serves a similar purpose, bringing together companies across the industry to promote consumer protection, establish industry standards, conduct research, and share education and responsible practices.
JIAA, along with the Japan Advertisers Association and the Japan Advertising Agencies Association, helped establish the Japan Joint Industry Committee for Digital Advertising Quality and Qualify (JICDAQ), an organisation that certifies companies operating with proper business processes in areas like brand safety and invalid traffic. While aligned with global best practices, JICDAQ is tailored to the unique needs of the Japanese market.
What’s notable about JICDAQ is its emphasis on responsibility to the entire ecosystem. It doesn’t just certify individual companies, it encourages them to work only with other certified partners. That way, the standards don’t just stop with one player; they ripple through the entire supply chain to help reinforce trust across the board.
The MRC
Next is the Media Rating Council (MRC), which ensures accuracy in media measurement. If you hear terms like “viewability” or “invalid traffic,” the MRC is the organisation that defines those standards and audits companies to make sure they’re measuring them effectively. They don’t just deal with digital channels—they cover everything from television and radio to out-of-home ads.
When a company is MRC-accredited for something like viewability, it means their methodology has been vetted. They’ve demonstrated that their tools accurately measure what they say they do. It’s not about enforcement or filtering; it’s about making sure the numbers you’re seeing are real and reliable.
TAG
Then there’s the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), which was created by the industry itself to fight fraud and malware, and promote brand safety and transparency.
If a company is TAG-certified, it means they’ve undergone a thorough process—including independent third-party verification—that verified their practices meet specific industry standards: whether that’s for fraud prevention, malware mitigation, or brand safety.
It’s not just a badge for marketing materials; it’s an operational commitment. And many companies choose to certify in more than one category. Those that hold at least three of TAG’s seals earn Platinum Status, signaling they’re covering multiple dimensions of quality and safety.
These standards aren’t developed in isolation—like the IAB Tech Lab, TAG maintains working groups that its member companies can join. Industry stakeholders who participate in these groups help develop and refine TAG’s standards.
What to know about industry certifications
While certifications like the TAG seals, IAB UK’s Gold Standard, or JICDAQ aren’t a technical requirement, they have become a widely recognised mark of credibility, signaling that a company is actively committed to upholding industry standards.
That said, the absence of certification doesn’t necessarily mean a company’s practices fall short; some may meet or exceed standards without having gone through the process due to cost or other factors. This is why it’s important to ask deeper questions to understand how each partner approaches brand safety and fraud prevention, regardless of the certification.
DoubleVerify, IAS, and HUMAN
Now, let’s look at verification and anti-fraud vendors like DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science (IAS), and HUMAN. These companies don’t publish the standards, but they build solutions to enforce them.
They’re the ones detecting invalid traffic in real time, measuring whether an ad was viewable, and providing tools to ensure brand suitability—like keyword blocklists or contextual filters. Some of their solutions work pre-bid, meaning they block bad impressions before an ad ever serves. Others validate what actually happened after the fact, offering a second layer of assurance.
Each vendor’s approach is different, but the goal is the same: to help buyers and platforms understand media quality and make informed decisions based on data.
A layered approach in the brand safety landscape
All of these efforts happen within a broader legal framework. Privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA, and regional ad regulations set the floor. But self-regulatory bodies like TAG, MRC, and IAB go further—establishing best practices and creating the systems to enforce them.
Together, these players form a layered approach to brand safety:
- Governments set legal boundaries
- Industry bodies raise the operational and technical standards
- Media buyers, owners, and platforms apply those standards
It’s also worth noting: Working with a certified partner or using an industry-standard tool is not a guarantee that every impression will be flawless. These solutions dramatically reduce risk and improve quality—but no system is perfect.
What matters is transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.
So, the next time you see a certification or evaluate a solution, dig deeper. Ask: Who issued the certification? What does it actually cover? Is the company applying standards in practice, not just putting a logo on its site? How is the company evaluating and evolving its practices?
A collaborative commitment to quality
Every group in the brand safety landscape—whether setting standards, defining measurements, or enforcing them—plays a distinct and essential role in building a safer, more transparent ad ecosystem. Understanding who does what helps you choose better partners, avoid unnecessary risk, and ultimately uphold a higher standard of quality and integrity in everything you do.
Maintaining a safe, transparent programmatic ecosystem requires collaboration. See how Index upholds the highest standards of quality across our platform.
Thank you to Jeremy Grant, senior product manager at Index Exchange, who also contributed to this video.
