ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: IAS in-app protection solution integrated by The Trade Desk, DoubleClick, Oath, AppNexus, etc.; ID5 raises €1m in seed funding round; TAG steps up activity in Europe; Protected Media supplies cyber protection tools for Smaato; Triton Digital integrates with FUSIO; and JustPremium expands in UK and Germany.

IAS In-App Protection Solution Integrated by Trade Desk, DoubleClick, Oath, AppNexus, etc.

Measurement and analytics provider Integral Ad Science has launched a new mobile in-app solution to protect brands in programmatic environments. IAS has introduced mobile in-app pre-bid segments that allow traders to define the content categories they need to be protected against based on customised risk thresholds. Once set, the technology only targets apps that comply with the expected brand-safety standards.

Ad fraud prevention capabilities and viewability targeting of the new IAS pre-bid segments reassure traders that bids are not wasted on fraud. The technology will be integrated with The Trade Desk, DoubleClick Bid Manager, Oath, Adelphic, AppNexus, and MediaMath, offering their clients brand-safe targeting.

Jason Cooper, GM Mobile, Integral Ad Science

Speaking exclusively to ExchangeWire, Jason Cooper, general manager, mobile, Integral Ad Science, says that the new technology is to increase mobile in-app transparency: “The new in-app solution is integrated within top programmatic platforms, allowing buyers to target inventory that is brand-safe, fraud-free, and viewable. The pre-bid segments provide flexibility, control, and transparency across a channel that is continuing to grow.

“This technology solves a very real problem for the industry. For the first time, programmatic buyers have access to real-time mobile in-app reporting against key metrics. Traders can be confident they are not wasting their money on ineffective inventory and instead optimising programmatic purchases to drive maximum impact."

According to Cooper, the solution will be made available to the wider European market, including France and Germany, later in 2018.

ID5 Raises €1m Seed Investment Round

Mathieu Roche, Co-founder & CEO, ID5

Cookie synchronisation platform, ID5, has announced it gas successfully closed €1m in seed funding, to allow the company to improve cookie synchronisation for premium publishers and advertising technology.

The operation is being led by 360 Capital Partners, with participation from additional private investors, and it will allow ID5 to grow its team in its London and Paris offices, as well as invest in its proprietary ID matching infrastructure, to support European commercial development.

Speaking exclusively with ExchangeWire, ID5's co-founder and CEO, Mathieu Roche (pictured), explained, "this funding validates our model and gives us a real opportunity to scale our services across Europe. Most publishers are aware of the impact of cookie syncing on page latency and data leakage. They're excited to be able to regain control of their user experience and audiences with a specialised cookie syncing service like ID5. GDPR also puts a lot of pressure on them - we give them the ability to turn this challenge into an opportunity and to better work with their monetisation partner. We're really excited and looking forward to rolling out our services to more publishers and ad tech platforms."

TAG Steps Up Activity in Europe

The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is expanding in Europe. Opening their first non-U.S. office in London, the global certification programme has hired former IAB-UK executive Nick Stringer. The move ties in with TAG’s recent co-operation with JICWEBS in the UK, collaborating on brand safety efforts in the UK as well as fighting fraud, malware, and piracy.

From the new London office, TAG intends to support EU-based and global companies to drive brand safety and anti-ad fraud efforts, TAG CEO Mike Zaneis tells ExchangeWire: “Over the past two years, scores of companies from around the world have joined TAG's efforts to fight digital ad crime; but to date, we haven't established a non-U.S. physical presence to support our worldwide corporate engagement. With the opening of this new EU office, TAG is well-positioned for continued expansion in that region; and we are planning equally ambitious growth in APEC, MENA, and Latin America."

According to TAG, the number of TAG-registered companies outside the U.S. is now more than 130.

“Over the last three years, TAG has built an effective and proven framework to solving some of the most difficult problems in digital advertising”, explains TAG’s new vice president of global member engagement and operations, Nick Stringer. “Now we plan to educate policymakers and companies around the world about that approach, so brand advertisers and their agencies can ensure they are working with partners who maintain the highest standards for a clean and safe global supply chain.”

Stringer joins TAG from a previous position as chair of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), which administers the EU’s self-regulatory programme to give consumers information and control over interest-based advertising.

Protected Media Supplies Cyber Protection Tools for Smaato

With in-app ad spending on Smaato’s platform growing from 80% to 96% of the total in the last year, the mobile ad platform is taking steps to protect its publishers from ad fraud. Partnering with Protected Media, Smaato is deploying cyber security features on its platform, including tools to evaluate the legitimacy of ad impressions and verify data.

Asaf Greiner, CEO & Founder, Protected Media

Protected Media has seen a massive increase in in-app fraud, with fraudsters making low-quality apps look like premium publishers. The increase rises to almost 10 times the previous rate across its installed base. “Over the past few months, we're seeing the same advertiser with the same campaign on the same apps getting very different results due to using a different mediator”, Asaf Greiner, CEO and founder, Protected Media, tells ExchangeWire. “Our research exposes this is more often not the same app, just a masking of another.”

Greiner believes that OTT and CTV may be the next targets: “OTT and CTV are generating a lot of interest in the fraud industry. We suspect some of the research of the large fraud levels in OTT and CTV were actually measuring other app traffic impersonating them.

“We are proud to provide Smaato with the in-depth information, at the impression level, that is required to diagnose problematic traffic. Fraudsters are becoming more pervasive, advanced, and persistent, and sophisticated technology combined with the expertise of Smaato’s traffic quality team will help keep campaign results genuine.”

Triton Digital Integrates with FUSIO

Digital audio marketplace Triton Digital is integrating its audio advertising platform a2x with  FUSIO by S4M, a mobile advertising technology, specialising in drive-to-store campaigns. The co-operation is to provide S4M clients with programmatic audio inventories combined with the possibility to define dynamic geolocation targeting and footfall measurements in brick-and-mortar stores.

“Brands are continuously seeking native, immersive ways of connecting with their target audience, and the mobile-first, one-to-one, non-skippable nature of digital audio makes it a powerful vehicle with which to do so”, explains Benjamin Masse, managing director, market development and strategy, Triton Digital. “We are pleased to provide FUSIO by S4M clients with the ability to add digital audio to their media mix for the first time.”

“Audio advertising remains a key channel for retailers, given the rise of music streaming and podcast consumption; and digital audio advertising spend is projected to see double-digit growth worldwide”, agrees Stanislas Coignard, U.S. CEO, S4M. “We are thrilled to be integrated with the a2x marketplace, which enables advertisers using FUSIO by S4M to geotarget their digital audio messages, as well as measure important KPIs, like completion rates and footfall visits into points of sale.”

According to the release, the integration makes FUSIO the only platform bridging digital audio advertising campaigns with actual footfall in brick-and-mortar stores, relying on geolocation features that target potential shoppers in the store’s proximity with branded digital audio messages. FUSIO provides measurement on KPIs such as completion rate and in-store purchases.

JustPremium Expands in UK & Germany

Undertone’s loss turns out to be JustPremium’s gain: after the recent closures of Undertone’s EMEA offices, the Dutch rich media marketplace JustPremium is expanding its presence in Europe with two new teams recruited from Undertone’s staff.

Besides the existing operations in Dusseldorf, Germany will be served from a second JustPremium office located in Hamburg and staffed with five new employees. Five new staff members will also join the UK team, headed up by the former Undertone EMEA Director, Rob Garber, who has taken the role of UK managing director. JustPremium’s German operations are led by Germany country manager Joerg Schneider.

The new hires take the JustPremium team to over 110 employees globally. Eric Visser, founder and CEO, JustPremium, commented: “We’re delighted to have a hugely talented group of people join our team, reflecting the momentum of JustPremium’s growth globally. We’re on a mission to prove that the legacy ad tech giant can be challenged by both startups and scale-ups with the right balance of innovation and creativity. I believe that, in the long term, we will start to see less fragmentation in the industry, which will produce stronger companies that are able to benefit both advertisers and publishers.”