Advertisers can now track and offset the exact carbon cost of their digital campaigns in real time using a new ad tracker launched today by ad tech company Good-Loop.

The purpose-powered platform’s Green Ad Tag, which can be wrapped into any digital campaign, from display to OOH, like viewability or brand safety pixels, enables brands and agencies to closely monitor the environmental impact of their ads throughout the campaign lifecycle.

With the ad industry striving to become carbon neutral by 2030 as part of the Ad Net Zero initiative and high-profile companies such as Apple and Volkswagen also committing themselves to zero emissions, the new tracking tag is designed to help advertisers limit and offset their carbon costs.

With scientists now confirming that the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it’s absorbing, the need for industry action has never been more pressing. Digital ad campaigns leave a substantial carbon footprint around the globe. According to Good-Loop’s carbon calculator, a typical online ad campaign emits 5.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide -- almost half of what an average person in the UK produces in a year.

With the average ad agency employee producing 3.4 tonnes of C02 per year, it’s no surprise that seven in 10 people working in the UK ad industry (71%) are worried about the negative impact the industry has on the environment (Source: Ad Net Zero).

Good-Loop’s new 1X1 pixel detects data transmission in real-time, allowing for variations in territory, device, bandwidth usage and time of day. These costs are then combined with local electricity consumption to enable brands and agencies to closely track emissions through a designated dashboard.

Good-Loop will then offset the entire campaign through various Verified Carbon Standard offsetting projects, as well as providing recommendations on how advertisers can significantly reduce the environmental impact of their media buying. Brands and agencies can also offset the carbon cost of their campaigns by buying ads using a special ‘TreePM’ rate, which plants a tree for every thousand impressions they purchase.

Amy Williams, CEO and founder of Good-Loop, said: “Whether it’s the Ad Net Zero initiative or the IPA’s Media Climate Charter, there’ve been some encouraging recent signs that the ad industry is finally starting to get its act together and acknowledge it needs to do more to address the negative impact it has on the environment.

“But to ensure these commitments are not just more hot air, advertisers need access to the right tools to help them significantly reduce their carbon footprints. Good-Loop’s Green Ad Tag does just that, providing brands and agencies with on-the-button, real time information about their live campaigns, helping them to drive efficiencies and cut carbon costs throughout the lifetime of their media plans.”

The Green Ad Tag is the latest solution offered by Good-Loop to help advertisers significantly reduce their CO2 emissions. The purpose-powered platform, whose programmatic technology and ethical ad units enable consumers to donate to their favourite good causes by watching ads, is on a mission to make the media side of digital advertising carbon-positive by 2030.

The company launched its free Carbon-Calculator for World Environment Day (June 5), which enables brands and media agencies to manually calculate the carbon footprint of their online ads.

Good-Loop also offsets the carbon costs of all its ad campaigns by investing in projects that are removing or preventing CO2 emissions, while its ad formats rewards consumer attention with donations to sustainable causes and reforestation and re-wilding projects.