In the ever-evolving realm of digital advertising, the battle against fraud, ensuring brand safety, and fostering transparency are constant challenges. Mike Zaneis, the CEO of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), sits at the forefront of this battle. In this exclusive interview, we delve into Zaneis’s journey, TAG's mission, and the daily strategies employed to create a safer and more transparent industry.

This interview has been edited and condensed. Comments collected on October 27, 2023.

For this latest edition of AdLeaders, we have had the privilege of sitting down with Mike Zaneis, the CEO of the Trustworthy Accountability Group for the past eight years, an organization that is at the forefront of the fight against fraud and for better brand safety in the digital advertising landscape. Born out of collaboration between leading digital advertising trade bodies—the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the 4As, and the ANA (the US Association of National Advertisers)—TAG has become a beacon of collective industry efforts. Zaneis’s extensive 20-year career in digital advertising, starting at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), paves the way for his leadership in tackling critical issues within the digital supply chain. When it comes to TAG's endeavor, Zaneis is straightforward: "Our mission at TAG, as a nonprofit organization, is to bring the industry together. We may not have the technological prowess that companies like Adloox possess, but we organize the collective brainpower of experts to tackle issues of fraud, brand safety, and transparency. Our primary focus," Zaneis explains, "is on combating criminal activity in the supply chain, particularly advertising fraud or 'invalid traffic.' We aim to shield marketers and their ad spend from criminal networks attempting to commit advertising fraud. Over the years, we expand our mission to address linkages between criminal networks and issues like piracy of content, distribution of malware within ad creatives, collectively known as brand safety. TAG's certification programs cover not only anti-fraud measures but also brand safety." Zaneis elucidates "We bring stakeholders together, set requirements for certification programs, and companies like Adloox, can achieve and surpass these standards to earn our seal."

"ISSUES LIKE BRAND SAFETY SHOULDN'T BE VIEWED SOLELY AS A PUBLISHER PROBLEM. IT'S A COLLECTIVE CHALLENGE THAT DEMANDS A UNIFIED INDUSTRY RESPONSE."

Reflecting on the collaborative nature of TAG's approach, Zaneis emphasizes, "As we created TAG, we recognized the necessity of a full supply chain partnership. Marketers, ad agencies, intermediaries, publishers, and tech vendors—all must be part of the solution. We work with the entire industry, acknowledging the vital role each stakeholder plays in creating a safer and more transparent digital advertising landscape." Zaneis asserts, "issues like brand safety shouldn't be viewed solely as a publisher problem. It's a collective challenge that demands a unified industry response."

When asked about TAG's daily operations, Zaneis sheds light on the organization's role in analyzing and facilitating a more transparent industry. "Our daily structures revolve around understanding the needs of our partners—marketers, agencies, intermediaries, publishers, and tech vendors. We strive to provide the support necessary for them to meet and exceed our certification requirements, ensuring a safer digital advertising ecosystem." In essence, to Mike Zaneis, TAG embodies the collaborative spirit needed to overcome the challenges of digital advertising, making significant strides towards a more secure and transparent future.

Zaneis doesn’t shy away from the multiple challenges and needed strategies to ensure brand safety in the industry. “To understand how to identify unsafe content or transmit information up the supply chain, we bring the entire industry together through various working groups," Zaneis explains. “TAG's approach involves working on multiple fronts, including brand safety, fraud, and transparency, creating a unique space for partners to collaborate on problem-solving.” When asked about TAG's future plans, the organization's focus over the next 6 to 12 months seems assuredly delimited: "We are looking to expand our efforts into challenging areas like CTV, audio podcasts, and the gaming environment," Zaneis states. “The goal is to ensure transparency and measurability in each emerging market, enhancing protection for marketers. Additionally, we’re accelerating ongoing efforts to address issues like election integrity, misinformation, and the support for quality journalism.”

As always during our AdLeaders interviews, the conversation rapidly shifted to the impact of evolving technologies, such as AI, here on brand safety. “Of course there’s a need to plan for the long term, considering how AI may be utilized by criminals, to alter threat vectors. Despite challenges posed by privacy regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies, I’m confident in TAG's ability to adapt and continue safeguarding ad spend through collaboration and transparency.” Discussing fraud in digital advertising without addressing the prominent buzzword of the summer of 2023—Made-for-Advertising websites—was simply impossible. The MFA topic, which gained attention following the ANA's Transparent Programmatic Transparency Report. is well understood by TAG, and Zaneis emphasizes the need for collaboration in defining and identifying MFA sites. "We need technology providers to continually update and track these domains, to support the ongoing collaborative effort to refine definitions and protect legitimate publishers from being misidentified.”

Learn more about "Made for Advertising" websites ⇲

"ON MFAs, WE NEED TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS TO CONTINUALLY UPDATE AND TRACK THESE DOMAINS, TO SUPPORT THE ONGOING COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO REFINE DEFINITIONS AND PROTECT LEGITIMATE PUBLISHERS FROM BEING MISIDENTIFIED."

Discussing TAG's global presence, Zaneis highlights the organization's commitment to addressing global challenges in digital advertising. While the US remains TAG's largest market, he emphasizes the importance of regional nuances and adapting strategies to meet the specific challenges faced by markets in Europe, Asia Pacific, and beyond. “The goal is to engage with companies worldwide, raising standards for fraud prevention, brand safety, and transparency.” He also outlines TAG's process for working with partners globally: “The organization sets high standards through guidelines and requirements, welcoming companies to collaborate and prove their commitment to achieving these standards.” Zaneis stresses the importance of cutting off financial support for criminal networks worldwide to effectively mitigate the impact of fraud on the industry. “TAG's multifaceted approach to brand safety emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and high standards as key elements in navigating the complex landscape of digital advertising.”

We also take a look at social media advertising from a brand safety perspective. Zaneis highlights the importance of investigations and independent audits to address challenges such as hateful content, misinformation, and inappropriate ad placements. "Social media is such a challenge from a brand safety perspective. We work with all the major social media platforms; virtually all of them are TAG certified for brand safety." He highlights the continuous monitoring and yearly recertification process, stating, "That's a great starting point, but we actually open up investigations on our own based on the public information that we gather. What we really care about is, have you met the goal and the requirements to have the resources in place and to be doing this effectively?"

Regarding global coverage, Mike mentions, "We work a lot in Singapore; we probably have 14 or 15 companies that are based out of India, for example." He emphasizes the need for a presence in various markets and collaboration with companies worldwide to address market-specific challenges. "TAG's commitment to addressing challenges in the advertising industry and collaborating with stakeholders globally is stronger than ever.”

Learn more about the Trustworthy Accountability Group here.