(This post is a guest post written by Madeleine Want, IX Product Director for Quality & Privacy at Index Exchange.)
At Index Exchange, we know the importance of staying vigilant when it comes to invalid traffic (IVT) and fraud. We’ve spent many years investing in technological and human solutions to tackle challenges that evolve as fast as the programmatic ecosystem does.
We human vet every new supply partner, making sure their properties are visually appealing, easy to navigate, and free from unwanted or prohibited content. We maintain our Gold Standard accreditation with the IAB, and have TAG certifications for fraud, malware, piracy and quality guidelines. Once a new publisher is onboarded, we make sure Index Exchange is represented as an authorized seller via ads.txt, and our worldwide quality teams audit integrations to make sure they continue adhering to our high quality standards, developing and maintaining the policies that keep our platform transparent and trustworthy.
As we evolve our strategies and look to focus on a multitude of digital canvases, we know our IVT protection needs to scale with us. We have zero tolerance for fraud and believe adding another tool will be beneficial in this rapidly-changing environment.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with HUMAN, the global leader in collective protection against sophisticated bot attacks and fraud. Their leadership in IVT detection and prevention enables us to double down on our commitment to being the cleanest exchange for buyers and sellers alike. In addition to the strict practices we currently have in place, we’re now scanning our global traffic with HUMAN and filtering out IVT before it ever has a chance to make it to DSPs and marketers.
A Multifaceted Protection Plan
Comprehensive fraud protection requires a complete feedback loop of information: an assessment both before and after the bid. The pre-bid check predicts the likelihood of a request being invalid, or fraudulent and makes a decision whether or not to filter that traffic out. The post-bid check happens upon creative delivery and provides data to verify the prediction and tune the model.
It’s not good enough to identify fraud if you can’t move fast enough to block it. HUMAN provides this complete loop, with MediaGuard filtering pre-bid and FraudSensor verifying post-bid.
HUMAN: An Omnichannel Partner for Index Exchange
While the web has historically taken the lion's share of the digital ad pie, spend is increasingly moving towards mobile app, CTV/OTT and other emerging channels. HUMAN's expertise in IVT detection has allowed them to pioneer research across all channels: uncovering the “3ve” fraud syndicate spoofing ad requests, the Tushu SDK fraud affecting several Android apps, and CTV-specific fraud such as the largest known SSAI supply spoofing scheme to date: ICEBUCKET. HUMAN's Satori Threat Intelligence team has become the leading trusted partner in supply fraud detection.
Index Exchange is committed to maintaining our high quality standards no matter the channel. This is why we’re pioneering new methods of SSAI request authentication, hand-vetting every one of our CTV supply partners - and now - joining forces with HUMAN as we continue our push beyond the web.
What it Means for Buyers
Running a transparent exchange means that advertisers and bidders need to trust what they’re getting. Industry leading DSP The Trade Desk established their “Gold Standard Program”, scanning all traffic they buy through HUMAN. Now, Index Exchange is providing the same assurance to all buyers who work with us, no matter which DSP they use.
Staying on top of fraud requires constant adaptation and collective protection: what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Since day one, we’ve invested heavily in the people, processes and platforms needed to maintain quality. With HUMAN added to our arsenal, we’re more prepared than ever.
