Starting in 1967, TV station WNEW-TV, of New York City, began using the phrase, “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” The PSA initiative was in response to rising crime in the city, and while it may now seem anachronistic — and indeed the line is often parodied — the message was a good one. With slight tweaking, it’s also one that modern advertisers could take to heart. That tweak would be: “At any given second of any day, do you know where your ads are running?”
An online ad served in the wrong location — say, hunting apparel appearing on a website that sells children’s toys, or women’s personal care products advertised on a site dedicated to men’s apparel — is not only a waste of a marketer’s ad spend, but it can also create a negative impression of a brand or product, doing harm instead of good.
The solution to misplaced ads is ad verification — one of the smartest ways marketers can use their advertising budget.
“Advertisers who spend money on advertising verification are doing the right thing in protecting themselves against fraudulent traffic, low-quality placements, or unsafe ad environments,” says Aljay Ambos, head of marketing at Twixify. “Without it, advertisers run the risk of paying for impressions that have no chance of ever being seen, or being poorly placed on irrelevant sites.”
What is Ad Verification?
Ad verification is the process of ensuring that a marketer’s ads are delivered as intended. The process involves confirming that ads are appearing in front of human eyes, not just bots; are placed in environments that make sense based on the brand’s image and goals; and aren’t being served in places that may have a negative impact on a brand, product, company, noted person, and more.
“Ad verification is non-negotiable for advertisers serious about maximizing their ROI,” says Sophie Musumeci, founder of Real Entrepreneur Women. “Without it, brands risk wasted ad spend, misleading placements, and reduced trust in their campaigns.”
How Does Ad Verification Work?
Most ad verification works thanks to a small code snippet, called a “verification tag” or “beacon,” that’s embedded within an ad. This tag collects data about where the ad is being displayed, who sees it, and if its placement and audience meet the advertiser’s specified criteria, such as website context and audience.
This information allows a marketer to verify that their ads are being delivered as intended and not appearing on inappropriate sites or in fraudulent environments. The data is sent to a third-party ad verification vendor that provides reports to the advertiser about ad placement, viewability, and potential issues like ad fraud. This typically occurs on a monthly basis.
What Does Ad Verification Detect?
Ad verification can track many useful metrics, including some that can be used to improve the content the marketer puts out in the future, such as:
Ad Verification Tracks Placement
If you paid top dollar to place a large ad at the top of a series of websites, you owe it to yourself to check and make sure they really are being displayed there. At its most basic, ad verification is the process of making sure ads are being served where they are supposed to appear.
Ad Verification Tracks User Engagement
Did someone watch your video all the way to the end? Then they must have liked what they saw and gotten a good impression. Did someone click on your ad and then bounce right away from the page where it landed them? Then either your ads are weak or the placement is off. “Ad verification is essential for ensuring that ads appear in the right place, to the right audience, and in brand-safe environments,” reiterates Sasha Berson, co-founder and chief growth executive at Grow Law Firm. “With billions lost annually to ad fraud, verification tools help advertisers detect invalid traffic, viewability issues, and brand safety violations.”
Ad Verification Prevents Fraudulent Activity
Ad verification tools can track things like bots that create artificial and inauthentic traffic, costing advertisers money for no good reason, and activity by click farms, where either bots or humans click away on ads without any actual intention of conversion.
Ad Verification Can Track Geolocation
An ad for a restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is pretty useless if it’s served to people in Cheyenne, Wyoming. “By geo-targeting accurately, verification tools ensure ads reach genuine users in the intended locations,” says Ivan Vislavskiy, co-founder and CEO of Comrade Digital Marketing Agency.
Why is Ad Verification Important for Advertisers?
Ad Verification Ensures Proper Placement of Marketing Content
Ad verification maximizes the value of a marketer’s ad spend by helping ensure their ads are delivered to the intended audience, namely those parties most likely to convert to a sale, a sign-up, or some other action. It’s like the digital version of stopping by a rental property you own and making sure everything is shipshape.
Ad Verification Protects a Brand’s Image
Ad verification can prevent potential damage to the brand being marketed. “One of the most overlooked benefits of ad verification is brand safety — ensuring ads don’t appear next to content that damages credibility,” Musumeci says. “For service-based businesses, especially those built on trust and community, this is critical.”
Ad Verification Can Prevent Fraud
In addition to preventing image issues, ad verification can prevent fraud. If you don’t check to see that your ads are actually being served as they should be, you might be paying someone for a service they aren’t rendering.
Ad Verification Maximizes ROI
The importance of ad verification goes beyond preventing fraud or reputational damage — it can also help multiply the efficacy of ad campaigns. “Many advertisers think that verification is only useful to prevent ad fraud,” says Ambos. “This is not correct. Ad dollars are spent most efficiently when an advertisement serves its purpose. When engagement takes place, ROI is bound to be improved. Ad verification makes the placements more efficient — this is a fact any serious advertiser shouldn’t ignore.”
How Can Advertisers Ensure Ad Policies and Compliance on Ad Networks?
Thoroughly Review and Understand the Ad Network’s Policies
Don’t run afoul of an advertising network, be it a heavy (like Google or Facebook) or smaller players, just because you didn’t do the homework. You need to understand policies regarding content, format, and any restrictions they place upon ads to be served before committing.
Utilize Ad Network Compliance Tools
Let the tools do the work for you, when possible. Leverage any compliance features provided by an ad network, like pre-submission checks, ad preview tools, and automated policy enforcement mechanisms, which can prevent issues in the first place.
Enhance your ad review process for faster approval and better campaign delivery
Monitor Campaign Performance for Potential Violations
Even if your ads seemed good to go at the time of their launch, you have to remain vigilant, making sure they remain compliant with an advertising network even after they have been published and are being served. Make sure your ads aren’t accidentally or even intentionally corrupted in some way, and that they remain in compliance with any regulations that might change over time, such as when new requirements are put in place regarding age verification, language limitations, and more. If you detect violations, you may be entitled to compensation.
Key Takeaways
Ad verification is essential for online marketers, because it can prevent fraud, wasted money, negative brand impressions, and a general poor use of budget. But on a more positive note, ad verification can also maximize return on investment, ensure the best possible placement, and help expand awareness of a brand in an efficient way. Ad verification looks for things like geolocation, user engagement, proper placement on sites and social media platforms, and other metrics that work together to help ensure campaigns are maximally effective.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What are the 4 core pillars of ad verification?
The four core pillars of ad verification are:
- Brand safety, which ensures ads are not served in improper spaces.
- Viewability, which checks to see that ads are being viewed by real people.
- Fraud prevention, which sniffs out bots and click farms.
- Geo-targeting, which makes sure ads are being served in physical regions that make sense.
These pillars help protect advertisers and ensure that ads are seen by actual potential customers.
What are the 5 keys of compliance?
The five key elements of compliance are:
- Leadership, which makes clear the plans and expectations of an ad campaign.
- Risk assessment, which identifies potential issues before they arise.
- Standards and controls, which help ensure ads will consistently perform as intended.
- Training and communication, which should be undertaken at regular intervals.
- Oversight, which means monitoring ad performance over time.
Does real-time ad verification exist?
Yes! While not all ad verification is done in real time, it can be. Ad platforms can automatically detect and refund obvious fraud or accidental clicks, and some platforms can proactively block IP addresses that are known to be used for fraud.
