PubMatic promises money back if fraud is detected

Publisher-focused sell-side platform (SSP) PubMatic unveiled money-back guarantee for its demand-side partners. According to the program, if fraud is detected on PubMatic's platform, its demand partners do not have to pay for it. Also, the company will offer demand partners credit for fraudulent traffic served by PubMatic, provided that certain criteria are met.This move is in a bid to inform clients, partners and the industry of its continuous efforts to clean up the online advertising ecosystem. The company has a dedicated global inventory quality (IQ) team and operational processes to combat ad fraud and prevent it in future. Through daily reporting views, it identifies issues and communicates with the publisher to form an action plan.PubMatic will pause or terminate the account if improvements are not seen within a defined time frame.PubMatic is also part of the ads.txt initiative introduced by IAB Tech Lab, which aims to eliminate the ability to profit from counterfeit inventory, by offering content owners and distributors avenues to declare authorised inventory sellers. According to the press statement, the company is actively encouraging its publishers to implement ads.txt. It is also partnering with inventory quality vendors accredited by the Media Rating Council, such as IAS and White Ops, to conduct brand safety checks and inventory screening across its platform. Data is also shared in a feedback loop to stay ahead of fraud schemes.“The importance of transparency and an efficient brand-safe supply chain are ever important for buyers. Our product innovations and inventory quality team take a rigorous approach to stamping out ad fraud to benefit our demand partners, their advertiser clients and the industry as a whole,” Rajeev Goel, co-founder and CEO of PubMatic, said.