Human eyeballs or your money back: TubeMogul

The advertising software company has launched its Non-Human Traffic (NHT) Credit Programme, which will refund advertisers for non-human traffic identified as fraudulent by White Ops – a provider of cyber security services for fraud detection and prevention.

Brett Wilson, CEO and co-founder of TubeMogul, said the company’s “longstanding investments and track record” in blocking ad fraud have already minimized this issue for clients.

“The NHT Credit Programme now gives our clients total certainty as a matter of policy,” he added, in a statement. “Anyone can say that they are blocking suspicious or non-human traffic, but trust is earned in advertising. We hope that others will follow suit."

The programme is available to platform clients that have a master services agreement (MSA), of which the company has 424 globally. Clients in Southeast Asia include agencies and brands such as Lenovo and XL Axiata.

Under the initiative, beginning on April 1 TubeMogul will issue credits on a monthly basis for video ad impressions served on open exchange inventory that White Ops has measured and identified as fraudulent based on the company’s proprietary methodology and benchmarking.

To make that possible, TubeMogul is deploying White Ops FraudSensor technology and verification across every measurable video ad bought via OpenRTB.

“We brokered a large deal with White Ops to make this possible—no one else has done this,” a spokesperson told Campaign Asia-Pacific in response to queries. “Botnet traffic obviously varies but the point is we're totally accountable as a matter of policy.”

Asked about the April’s Fools start date, the company said it was “just timing”.

“Although we do think it is foolish for advertisers to pay for fraudulent traffic and we do our best to combat this as shown by this initiative,” the spokesperson added.

Michael Tiffany, CEO and co-founder of White Ops said TubeMogul's bold programme “is throwing down the gauntlet”, and others like it will help move the industry forward.

"We can measure all we want, but until there is clear accountability in the system, it’s hard to make significant progress on fixing the problem,” he added. “Brands need to demand, and providers need to accept, responsibility for the elephant in the inventory."

This latest announcement is in line with the company’s ongoing efforts to drive increased control and transparency for brand advertisers.

In 2011, the company introduced the term “fake pre-roll” and brought attention to the practice of marketing cheaper banner inventory with video ad content playing automatically as “pre-roll” inventory.

In 2012, it launched its BrandSafe suite, played a role in the creation of OpenVV and released details on three botnets and integrated with major third-parties for viewability, verification.

“This new initiative gives brand advertisers another reason to partner with an independent software company that shares their incentives,” said Wilson.