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Snap Technology Brand Safety

Snapchat doubles down on brand safety

May 31, 2017 | 4 min read

The company behind Snapchat has inked deals with analytics outfits DoubleVerify (DV), Integral AdScience (IAS), plus Oracle-owned Moat in a bid to better assure advertisers that ad dollars spent on the video-sharing platform won’t risk their brand safety.

Each of the tech vendors have been confirmed as founding members of the Snapchat Brand Safety Coalition

Each of the tech vendors have been confirmed as founding members of the Snapchat Brand Safety Coalition

The tech vendors have announced the tie-ups with each also confirmed as founding members of the Snapchat Brand Safety Coalition, after the separate outfits conducted their own review of Snap Inc's brand safety protocols.

Wayne Gattinella, DV, chief executive officer and president, said the coalition would provide a “meaningful layer of protection for brand advertisers.”

David Hahn, IAS, chief product officer, said: "Upon review of their unique user design and experience, internal processes, and protocols related to brand safety, IAS is confident that Snap is taking the right steps to mitigate brand risk for their advertisers."

Jonah Goodhart, Moat chief executive officer said: "Snapchat continues to push on the issues that matter to marketers, from transparent third-party measurement to a focus on business outcomes."

The initiative has been implemented in the wake of growing advertiser demand for third-party verification of how paid-for media performs on the internet’s largest ecosystems.

Earlier this month, Snap issued its first quarterly earnings results since its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year, with the company posting earnings of almost $150m for the opening three months of 2017.

Despite the numbers representing 286% year-over-year growth, Snap missed analyst expectations, and during the company’s subsequent earning’s call Evan Spiegel, Snap's chief executive officer, told investors that its priorities during its debut period on the public markets were: performance, quality and automation.

The process of automating ad serving has historically brought with it an increased risk of ad misplacement – a risk factor media owners must balance if they are to open up to increased advertiser demand.

Ad misplacement, or brand safety concerns, were further highlighted earlier this year when an investigation by The Times of London emphasized some of the accompanying risks of advertising automation.

Speaking to financial analysts on the company’s subsequent earnings call, Snap’s chief strategy officer, Imran Khan, said that one-fifth of all ad impressions were delivered through its third-party API partners during the quarter, according to a SeekingAlpha transcript.

Addressing questions over the mix of advertisers using its platform, he added: “With regards to DR [direct response] versus brand, I think we took a deliberate approach to start our business with the brand advertising.

“And the reason is we've listened – we heard from our advertisers that there were not enough good solutions for brand advertising on the mobile. And a lot of the brand advertisers are also the very large advertisers and they have very high standards.”

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