IAB Members & Industry Coalesce Around the Trade Association’s ‘Quality Assurance Guidelines’
Digital Companies Collaborate to Establish New ‘Best Practices’
NEW YORK – The White House today commended the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) for its ongoing support of the many, growing industry efforts to fight copyright piracy and counterfeiting, stating that self-regulation measures, such as the IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines (QAG), are critical to sustaining the integrity and future expansion of the digital landscape.
“To have the White House stamp of approval is critical as part of the evolution of the IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines and the industry as a whole”
The IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines compliance program was initiated in April 2011 to provide brand safety assurances to advertisers that their ads will not appear next to inappropriate content, including pirated intellectual property. In April 2013, IAB released updates to the guidelines (QAG 2.0) for public comment, expanding the reach of the initiative beyond networks and exchanges to addressing a much broader set of buyers and sellers, including large premium publishers, demand side platforms (DSPs), supply side platforms (SSPs), trading desks, agencies and marketers. The final version of QAG 2.0, incorporating public comment, is due to be released this summer.
“To have the White House stamp of approval is critical as part of the evolution of the IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines and the industry as a whole,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB, in response to the statement from the White House’s Office of U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement. “IAB has served as a big tent where stakeholders across the digital ecosystem, including some of the largest tech companies and intellectual property rights holders, have come together to combat copyright piracy with the speed and urgency that the issue demands. Bringing these disparate parties together at the same table, we have been able to establish guidelines that strictly protect copyrights, while allowing the digital economy to flourish.”
Adding to the momentum, IAB members AOL, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!, today unveiled a set of best practices for ad networks to further address piracy and counterfeiting. These best practices build upon the framework of QAG and also leverage the IAB program as a central component and guiding platform.
Many other companies, including 24/7 Media, Adtegrity and SpotXchange, are also reaffirming and extending their commitment to maintaining high-quality standards for advertisers and publishers, while at the same time respecting intellectual property rights.
To learn more about the IAB Quality Assurances Program and review the public comment version of QAG 2.0, please visit iab.net/qaginitiative.
About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit iab.net.
