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IABNZ announce initiative to eliminate counterfeit inventory

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of New Zealand (IABNZ) has announced it’s been working with publishers, agencies and tech vendors to implement ads.txt, a global IAB initiative designed to eliminate counterfeit inventory in the programmatic advertising ecosystem.

Ads.txt, which stands for Authorised Digital Sellers, is a method developed by IAB Tech Labs in New York that publishers and authorised partners can use to publicly declare the companies they have sanctioned to sell their digital inventory.

Once adopted, buyers can use ads.txt files to shift media spend to authorised supply paths.

IABNZ chief executive Adrian Pickstock says IABNZ board members voted unanimously to support the initiative.

“To achieve the greatest impact, the whole industry needs to align with this standard and drive the change necessary to safeguard the digital media sector. We’re calling on all New Zealand publishers to adopt ads.txt to help stamp out ad fraud and give buyers the confidence that the inventory they are buying is legitimate.”

He says the industry needs to act collaboratively in order to continue to drive progress and help provide a safe programmatic environment for New Zealand brands.

IABNZ board member companies supporting ads.txt include NZME, Stuff, TVNZ, MediaWorks, Google NZ, Bauer Media, Facebook NZ, Yahoo Platforms NZ and Seek NZ.

NZME chief digital officer Laura Maxwell says the company supports Ads.txt. 

“Media buyers will have the confidence that what they think they are purchasing, will indeed be what they receive, streamlining the process and resulting in a better outcome for everyone. As companies increasingly invest in digital marketing, it is imperative we actively work to make it a safe and transparent environment for legitimate publishers.”

Justine Hickie, general manager of Digital NZ at MediaCom, adds that brand safety in an online environment is a huge focus for agencies and their clients, however, it is fraught with complexity.  

“The ads.txt mandated implementation is a much needed and welcome change. Having greater transparency around inventory selling sources will allow agency traders to more easily & accurately identify safe environment online and ensuring a brands integrity can be protected.”

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