As the out of home media industry has evolved – from ads appearing on paper posters to now appearing on digital screens – third-party verification suppliers have expanded their capabilities so brands can maintain transparency and confidence in the delivery of their out-of-home media campaigns.
Late last year – as programmatic trading of digital out-of-home (DOOH) continued its rise during a pandemic- adtech platform OIS launched a world first third-party verification solution. Initially partnering with programmatic DSP (demand-side-platform) Vistar Media, OIS have already reported on hundreds of millions of impressions from more than 50 brand campaigns across multiple international markets.
Justin Singh, CEO, OIS, said: “It is, we believe, the first industry-wide picture of how programmatic DOOH is performing”, and there are some important learnings for advertisers and agencies, he added:
- Look back to look forward: Third-party verification is already widely adopted in traditional digital media, and initial indications suggest adoption rates for brands investing in third-party verifying their programmatic DOOH campaigns will reach the same levels in a much shorter period.
- Be ahead of the game: Brands engaged in trading DOOH programmatically should already be considering their third-party verification requirements, such as what metrics are important to their business, and if they want centralised reporting across their programmatic and direct campaigns. This is not only to maintain confidence in delivery via an independent partner, but just as importantly, ensure reporting produces meaningful data that can add additional value, such as seamless provision of delivery data for attribution purposes.
- No more guesswork: Third-party verification creates a more trusted marketplace that builds confidence for brands investing in programmatic DOOH. Brands can independently track all facets of campaign delivery including when and where ads have played, and the volume of impressions delivered by location, creative, publisher, environment, and such. The verification process is enhanced by reporting quality of ‘delivery’ derived from proprietary data collected by physically visiting hundreds of thousands of screens. This means brands can feel confident that the historical display condition and geo compliance of all programmatically available screens have been verified.
- Brand safety: One-to-many programmatic DOOH media exhibits certain nuances that require customised verification solutions compared to other one-to-one digital mediums. For example, fraudulent ad traffic and bots are less relevant, whereas ads appearing on damaged screens or incorrect locations in undesirable environments may be more of a risk to brands. Physical inspection data helps brands reduce any risks relating to delivery.
- Adopt standards: If independent verification is central to brands increasing their trust in delivery which influences their adoption of programmatic DOOH, then it’s imperative that from day one, the industry drives standardisation of not only metrics, but also technology standards that make for seamless adoption of new verification solutions.
- Futureproof and innovate: Programmatic DOOH investment is forecast to significantly increase this year, so if you are an agency or brand owner, make sure you test and learn to leverage all the benefits third-party verification can provide.