Transparency and trust are two of the biggest problems plaguing the online advertising industry today. Andrew Susman (pictured below), vice president, New York, Empower, talks about how a newly formed consortium of advertising professionals has been formed to tackle these issues head on.

ExchangeWire: The Advertising Transparency & Trust Forum has recently been formed and met quietly in March at the UN, meeting again the beginning of June. Why was this forum established and what are the goals you are trying to accomplish?

Andrew Susman: Our intent is to focus on process, dialog, and neutral ground. Because of how the industry associations have evolved, we lacked a multilateral forum for open discussion and development of holistic solutions. There is a remarkable amount of money lost in the total system, due to lack of trust on all sides, and particularly money that finds its way to bad actors. This includes the cost of account people, reviews, auditing, monitoring systems, waste, etc. In fraud alone, according to Dr Augustine Fou, there is USD$11bn (£8.57bn) wasted across the supply chain that will stand to profit both advertisers and agencies if we can get to a better place.

Our goals are to:

– Identify a collaborative process that will lead to short-term and long-term solutions, foster dialogue, and contribute resources for transparency and trust across the advertising continuum

– Obtain and execute meaningful commitments

– Develop a multilateral transparency curriculum: working with leading industry associations, distinguished scholars, and industry subject matter experts to elevate dialogue and fund of knowledge

– Practice what we preach: operate with the utmost transparency, good intent, and organisational rigour. Be accountable for committed outcomes with recognition, that it is mission critical to improve behaviour in the digital supply chain

– Move beyond naïve cynicism. Acknowledge that the current state is unsustainable for all parties, with mutually assured destruction. Create a credible line of sight to process on the how the transparency and trust emergency can be resolved in ways that are available to us now

How do you differ from TAG and other Trade Groups?

We are looking to work with all of them, and are working with most of the significant players in the digital community, but there are three major ways we differ. First, we serve by taking a multilateral approach that also includes the consumer. This solution can apprehend the complexity of the problems that we face and create sustainable solutions. Secondly, we are looking at things holistically and not siloed in the development of solutions. Everything we are doing is designed to rebuild trust in the total system; major trust areas (including, but not exclusive of, fraud) are inextricably intertwined. Thirdly, we were born out of the industry’s impatience with too much talk and too little action. We have a bias to action. As just one example, we understand that viewability alone is in its seventh year and, unfortunately, there is still no universal acceptance of the standards. The validity and importance of our initiative is demonstrated by the fact that in just two months, major players have leaned in to help us execute the principles of transparency and trust in the most pragmatic way. We are a place for fresh ideas and to move forward with a sense of urgency.

Who are the people and organisations involved? And how can a company become a member?

Mike Donahue and I are the co-chairs of the Advertising Transparency & Trust Forum. I also serve as vice president, New York, for Empower, a Cincinnati agency, with roots in P&G. Empower are known for our independence and family ownership and have distinguished ourselves as an industry leader by applying transparent practices for client advantage for 30 years plus. I also served P&G in a partnership building a scaled service in content marketing – where we were cited at the FTC for "building long-term, sustaining brands that have a lot of trust and are transparent to consumers",​ all the way back in 2013. To paraphrase David Bell: “Trust is an essential lubricant for any economic or social activity.” Mike Donahue is a universally adored industry executive, most recently at the AAAA’s, as their senior digital executive since 1994. For the last two years, Mike has been using his digital knowledge and experience in various ways through his consultancy, Connect the Dots. Forum members include participants from leading advertisers, agencies, publishers, academic institutions, and ad tech companies who embrace transparency, as well as representatives of the ultimate consumer.

Andrew Susman, VP New York, Empower

There is no cost to membership as we have consciously chosen not to charge for solutions that will benefit all parties in the digital ecosystem. We expect that anyone who joins our coalition fully embraces transparent business practices as the necessary way to engender trust.

How does this group define transparency and trust?  

At our first meeting, The Covey Organization helped the group to understand that trust is the combination of character and competency. It is both the intent to do the right thing, as well as the capability to deliver the right results. Transparency relates to talking straight and telling the truth in a way that people can verify for themselves, getting real, being genuine, open, authentic, and erring on the side of disclosure.

What are the top issues the forum is addressing at the moment that the industry should be aware of?

As a group, we identified many challenges facing our industry. There are four areas of paramount importance. 1) The decline in trust between advertisers and agencies. 2) The decline in trust between consumers and ads. 3) The absence of trust associated with the safekeeping of data by all parties, including marketers, agencies, publishers, and the buying public. 4) Ad fraud, which is taking billions of dollars away from the industry, responsible publishers, and hobbling the total marketplace.

We have chosen to tackle fraud first, because we believe that it affects every other area of the system’s trust. If we can help to relieve financial pressure, we will all be in a stronger position to address the other issues.

What does success look like in the eyes of the Transparency & Trust Forum? And how will the advertising industry be affected? 

So much positioning and posturing has already been done by so many that it is at a point of saturation. So, we are focusing ruthlessly and exclusively on the resulting adoption and use of our work outputs and effectiveness. Every initiative that the good guys take, is a step in the right direction. Every association, trade group, and constituent may have different approaches, based on their own needs, and those of their members. We aim to be complementary and tactical, but always focused on solutions that deliver better and more sustainable outcomes for everybody.

How will next steps from the forum be communicated and implemented by the advertising industry?

In the next couple of months, we will be issuing a progress report to the industry which will take account for what we have accomplished. The first goal is to bring all four constituencies to eliminate bot fraud. To that end, the second Transparency & Trust meeting will focus exclusively on fraud, arguably the biggest problem confronting all parties in the digital media supply chain. Attendees will discuss an addendum resource (developed by attorneys from all sides) to current advertiser/agency/media contracts that provide guidance for transparent practices to eventually eliminate fraud so the multibillion dollars stolen by fraud bots goes to publishers with good content, not to bad actors in bad places. Attendees will also address how this better practice can be implemented so advertiser dollars don’t go to any site until there is verification that site is populated by humans, and not bots.

Charles Cantu, CEO, Huddled Masses: Why did Huddled Masses decide to get involved with the Transparency & Trust Forum? What are you hoping to accomplish from both the market and Huddled Masses’ perspective?

Huddled Masses have always embraced a philosophy that embodies integrity, trust, and transparency within the digital media ecology. We have always known that sooner or later clients and agencies would eventually learn enough about RTB and programmatic to start demanding what they have deserved and desired for so long. In turn, we have evangelised that message adamantly since we started in 2012. So, when I first heard of, and was invited to participate in, the Transparency & Trust Forum, I was both honoured and thrilled. Honoured, because as you can see from the roster of participants there are many esteemed colleagues, clients, and competitors all standing together to do something not only necessary, but noble and powerfully principled. And thrilled, because as a technology and service provider that believes with its entire existence, that clearing the opacity and nebulous dealings that plague our industry will bring a revival and renaissance that so many of us old timers in the industry are looking forward to.