A Standard-Bearer For Standards | AdExchanger

What do toasters have to do with transparency and standards for online advertising?

Quite a lot actually, he says Ben Hovanesschief media officer of OMD Worldwide, on this week’s episode of AdExchanger Talks.

The more you can trust companies to adhere to a set of online advertising standards — like you trust electronics companies to make toasters that won’t catch fire — the less transparency you need.

People feel safe with a toaster because they know there are recognized standards governing the design and sale of electronics. They don’t need to see a wiring diagram or exact specs to believe it.

The same logic applies – or should – to online ad auctions, which operate in a complex and opaque ecosystem of supply, demand and, well, confusion.

In 2020, OMD launched an initiative called the Council on Accountability and Standards in Advertising (CASA). Her projects include creating clear and simple standards for ad auctions, retail media and media quality more broadly.

Last year, Hovaness approached the Media Rating Council to create Ad Auction Standards Working Grouprecruiting stakeholders from across the ecosystem, including buyers, sellers, platforms, ad tech companies, industry organizations and other holding companies.

The group expects to release a standard for ad auctions later this year.

“We realized that we would never be successful without a partnership with industry,” says Hovaness. “The way to create a standard is to do the careful, long-term work of building a broad buy-side coalition that can develop [something] which will in fact achieve widespread acceptance.’

Also in this episode: Advertising and Game Theory Auctions, Subscriptions from CESthe case for and against principle-based media buying and tips on how to evaluate advertising tools using artificial intelligence when they work as black boxes (which is most of the time).

For more articles with Ben Hovaness click here.