Digital ad standards industry body JICWEBS has awarded Facebook, Facebook Audience Network and Instagram the DTSG Brand Safety Certification following an independent audit of their advertising processes against JICWEBS’ DTSG Good Practice Principles.
These Principles are the UK Standard for Brand Safety and aim to reduce the risk of ads being served against inappropriate content. DTSG certification is a requirement for achieving the IAB Gold Standard, forms part of the AOP Ad Quality Charter and is included in ISBA’s Media Services framework. Last year the House of Lords Communication Select Committee urged all industry bodies to commit to signing up with JICWEBS and to date over 130 organisations have done so. Facebook and Instagram’s certifications closely follow Amazon, who received theirs in July.
Facebook’s feed-based media platform, accompanied by its use of AI, posed new verification challenges for the certification process. To understand how Facebook (and all certified companies) implement policies to minimise the risk of ad misplacement view their certificates here.
Steve Hatch, VP of Northern Europe, Facebook said: “Digital advertising builds brands, drives growth and creates jobs. It is vital that advertisers can trust where their ads are appearing, and we are fully behind the industry’s desire to raise standards in digital advertising. We support JICWEBS’ robust standards, rigorous verification process and the industry transparency it provides, and are delighted to have achieved DTSG Brand Safety Certification.”
Jon Mew, CEO of IAB UK said: “As a founder stakeholder, IAB UK is pleased to support the work of JICWEBS, and DTSG certification is a key requirement of our Gold Standard. This verification of Facebook and Instagram is significant, offering increased transparency of the platform through a clear report detailing how they reduce the risk of ad misplacement.”
Jules Kendrick, CEO, JICWEBS added: “Advertisers want greater trust and transparency in the digital ad chain. JICWEBS’ certification shows advertisers who is making a genuine commitment to protect their investment. We hope all parts of the supply chain will share the same level of detail through our certification scheme.”