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Share on XIAS takes its mission to be the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality extremely seriously.
We continuously invest and innovate so we can provide tools that help our customers protect and scale their brands. We also work collaboratively with our customers, industry partners, and the wider technology industry toward accomplishing our shared goals, and have invited organizations who advocate for the continuous improvement of our industry to collaborate with us.
Recently, we received an inquiry from U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) regarding a report alleging that our services failed to prevent advertisements from appearing on websites hosting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to which we have responded. As we previously stated, IAS has zero tolerance for any illegal activity, and we strongly condemn any conduct related to CSAM.
Notwithstanding the above, we recognize there’s always more that can be done.
To that end, IAS has implemented specific measures as part of our ongoing effort to help foster a safe digital advertising ecosystem, including eliminating content that appears on sites hosting CSAM:
Strengthening Our Global High-Risk Exclusion List
- IAS’s exclusion lists currently incorporate domains associated with and flagged by the U.S. Treasury Sanctions List, Japan JICDAQ / Internet Hotline Center, the United Kingdom’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, the Google Copyright Takedown List, among others, as well as those established by individual customers for their individual accounts.
- In addition, we have reviewed five years of reports from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and diligently cross-referenced their site list with our existing block lists. Though more than 350 sites were already covered by IAS’s brand safety solutions, we are incorporating new domains into our High-Risk block list that will be applied across every advertiser campaign. We will continue conducting a comprehensive review of these sites to ensure our existing block lists are updated accordingly on an ongoing basis.
- Further, we are engaging with law enforcement and other child safety organizations across the globe to improve our ongoing identification and classification of high-risk content hosting sites and providers.
User Generated Content Category
- Recognizing the considerations associated with advertising on unmoderated sites that allow User Generated Content (UGC), we launched a pre-bid and post-bid UGC content category in 2023. For those advertisers who employ this tool, IAS’s UGC category prevents ads from running across any sites which allow unmoderated UGC content.
- In 2024, approximately 1,100 campaigns utilized this segment, which prevented ads from being delivered, or flagged impressions, to the sites named within the report and other similar sites.
- As of today, every advertising customer using our Signal platform will receive a notification to activate this feature.
Implementing Greater Transparency Through URL-Level Reporting
- IAS advocates for greater transparency and cross-collaboration to improve standards that advance media safety.
- In an effort to increase transparency for our customers, we offer URL-level reporting by default for every customer leveraging our Brand Suitability technology on the content that we label as unsafe or unsuitable.
- We have implemented features that promote the usage of URL-level reporting, and will continue to invest in offerings that support this level of transparency.
A Collaborative Path Forward
We remain focused on ensuring media safety for all of our customers and improving the digital advertising ecosystem for all.
This ecosystem is complex, with multiple stakeholders required to provide comprehensive protection. When first-party tools, third party measurement and optimization solutions, and aligned governance initiatives are put into place, advertisers are able to protect their investments and create a safer ecosystem. A multi-layered approach ensures alignment across vendors and solutions, reducing the likelihood of errors or gaps in coverage.
We believe collaboration and innovation is crucial to fostering a safe open internet for our customers, industry partners, and others.
