ExchangeWire round up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: Less ad fraud in UK; SpotX and Vemba partner; Integral Ad Science and AOL; Brandwatch expands to France; and new CEOs for iotec and Kiosked.

Ad fraud numbers falling in UK

The number of fraudulent ads in the UK has decreased by almost two-thirds in the past 12 months – at least when it comes to the ads tracked by measurement provider Integral Ad Science. According to eMarketer, ad fraud decreased from 9.1% in the third quarter 2015, to now 3.2%.

Comparing across markets, the UK now shows the lowest rate of ad fraud: Australia, France, Germany, and the US are battling higher ad fraud rates than the UK.

A deeper look at measured ad sales also reveals that programmatically traded ads compare well in terms of ad fraud rates with direct sale ads. The latter recorded an ad-fraud rate of 2.6%, while programmatic ads came in at 3.2%, proving that trading ads programmatically does not have a discernible impact on ad-fraud rates.

The data is representative of the activity on Integral Ad Science’s platform only and excludes mobile in-app and video ads.

SpotX & Vemba Partnership

Video inventory management platform SpotX and video discovery and distribution platform Vemba are joining forces to manage syndication and monetisation of video content.

Aimed at content producers and publishers that syndicate video content, the product suite provides access to Vemba’s range of videos on the discoverable marketplace. Publishers can set monetisation goals and optimise individually. Content owners are aided with distribution across multiple channels, sites, and platforms from a central management hub.

“With this partnership, content owners will be able to make informed syndication decisions and understand the value of content across the web in order to maximise yield from each syndication opportunity”, says Sean Buckley, SVP global revenue, SpotX.

The integration between the two platforms works via a direct link that enables publishers to monetise content sourced via Vemba’s platform using SpotX’s ad serving tools and programmatic infrastructure.

Integral Ad Science & AOL strengthen partnership

Having already cooperated over the past two years, measurement provider Integral Ad Science and media group AOL are expanding their partnership by integrating Integral Ad Science’s video viewability pre-bid targeting into AOL’s platform ONE.

The performance-matching video viewability targeting allows advertisers to select, and achieve, various viewability thresholds.

“This expanded relationship with AOL addresses the massive industry demand for solutions that go beyond simply ensuring that ads are viewable, to instead ensuring that ads are viewed by the appropriate audience on the right device”, explains Scott Knoll, CEO, Integral Ad Science.

“We are firmly committed to raising the quality of content and ad experiences by providing advertisers and publishers the tools to create greater intelligence, transparency, and control”, adds Tim Mahlman, president, AOL Platforms. “Integrating with trusted partners, like Integral Ad Science, helps us do just that. Today marks an important step in a two-year integration with IAS, and we’re proud to now offer their full suite of brand safety, anti-fraud, and viewability tools across video and display.”

Integral Ad Science have been an original partner of AOL’s since the launch of the ONE platform last year.

Brandwatch expands to France

Social intelligence provider Brandwatch have opened an office in Paris. As part of the global expansion strategy, the company is strengthening their presence on the continent and are looking to build new relationships with marketers in France.

Leading the expansion in France, Brandwatch are appointing Bertrand Saint-Martin as VP of France. After 14 years at French software developer Dassault Systems, Bertrand will be helping the company expand their offering and activities in France.

“We are determined to develop our services and expand our global footprint to fulfill the growing needs of our customers”, says Giles Palmer, CEO, Brandwatch.

Brandwatch’s investment in global expansion is bolstered by a series C funding round, which was supported by French venture capital company Partech Ventures.

New CEO for iotec

Paul Wright joins iotec as CEO. Replacing Tom Bowman, who left iotec earlier in the year. Paul joins the intent marketing platform following his tenure as the director of iAd, Apple’s Mobile Advertising Platform.

Prior to Apple, Wright worked as chief digital officer at Omnicom Media Group.

“Under Paul’s leadership, iotec are driving forward a business that excels in identifying and understanding customer intent using sophisticated machine intelligence to provide real tangible value to clients, their agencies, and media platforms alike”, says Steve Hyde, chairman, iotec.

Kiosked co-founder becomes CEO

First co-founder, now CEO: Kiosked’s Antti Pasila advances to the top post in the monetisation platform.

After co-founding Kiosked in 2010 with Micke Paqvalen, Pasila now takes on the CEO role from his co-founder and predecessor Paqvalen, who was appointed chairman of the board.

Pisala wants to continue driving growth of the programmatic advertising platform: Kiosked grew almost 400% in 2015, the company says. He is concentrating especially on ad blocking and fraudulent ads: "Ad blocking and unviewable ads are costing publishers tens of billions in ad revenue each year – we help publishers tackle the root cause of these challenges: poor advertising experience.”

Pasila previously served as chief strategy officer at Kiosked.