Comscore Industry Trust Solution for Programmatic Now Available in 44 Countries
Comscore Independent Metrics, First Made Available for Media Sellers, Will Elevate Quality Inventory Worldwide
RESTON, VA, April 27, 2015 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ : SCOR) today announced that media sellers around the globe now have the ability to showcase the true quality of their advertising inventory available for sale in programmatic environments through the use of trusted, independent metrics. This is the first stage of the global rollout of the Comscore Industry Trust Initiative which brings an independent measure of quality to the programmatic trading world. The initiative was first introduced in the U.S. in January 2015.
As of 1 April, Comscore publisher clients have access to their Trust Profiles – a collection of Comscore key advertising metrics -- which give each client insight as to how their inventory will soon be represented in programmatic trading platforms.
Comscore Trust Profiles include key advertising metrics such as audience and category ranking data, viewability ratings and non-human traffic (NHT) ratings, all of which are consistent with the metrics available in Comscore MMX® Multi-Platform and validated Campaign Essentials™ (vCE®) that advertisers and publishers use for traditional ad buys. Trust Profiles are now available with MMX® Multi-Platform metrics in 44 markets, with additional in-depth vCE® metrics available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.
“The growth of programmatic around the world no longer needs to be accompanied by a concern about the quality of inventory that’s being bought and sold,” said Serge Matta, CEO of Comscore. “Expanding Comscore Industry Trust – and specifically Trust Profiles – globally to media sellers is another step forward in elevating high quality inventory and ensuring that sellers receive fair value for those impressions. Comscore Industry Trust ultimately offers a proactive way to create a trusted marketplace that better serves the needs of both buyers and sellers.”
Trust Profiles will also be available in select DSPs in key international markets later in 2015. Integration partners include Adform, DataXu, Eyereturn Marketing, MediaMath, Turn, The Trade Desk and Rubicon Project. Additional partners will be announced throughout the year.
Support for Comscore’s Efforts to Enable Trusted Transactions of Advertising
Demand-Side Platform Supporters
“At DataXu, we pride ourselves on giving our clients complete visibility into the data they’re using to make advertising decisions, and total control to manage those sources appropriately. The Comscore Industry Trust will provide a welcomed layer of independent validation, giving our clients and the broader industry greater confidence in the impressions that are being bought and sold programmatically.”
David Shapiro, VP Corporate and Business Development, DataXu
“At Adform, we’re constantly identifying ways in which we can provide a superior buying and selling experience to the clients we serve. We’re pleased to see Comscore introducing its Industry Trust initiative, as we believe that it echoes the vision and values of Adform’s Virtue Suite, which focuses on ensuring a brand friendly programmatic environment, and provides quality, transparent, brand safe and fraud-free display advertising for all of our clients. Industry Trust will provide buyers and sellers with full transparency in regards to their transactions, and will ultimately help to ease concerns among all sides of the ecosystem about the quality of impressions that are being bought and sold, instilling greater trust in programmatic and digital advertising overall.”
Martin Stockfleth Larsen, Chief Marketing Officer, Adform
“It is important that the lack of trust and clarity of supply within programmatic is addressed. We welcome Comscore’s Industry Trust initiative as a great move towards highlighting quality in programmatic, by providing a level of transparency in the pre bid environment that has been so lacking to date.”
David Nelson, VP Product and Operations Europe, RocketFuel
“The Comscore Industry Trust initiative will help bring confidence back to programmatic buying by leveling the playing field with traditional ad buying. Comscore is the ideal company to bring these independent metrics to market. Removing non-human-traffic and increasing transparency and viewability will ensure publishers and advertisers are getting the best value for their advertising dollars.”
Renee Hill, President and Co-CEO, Eyereturn Marketing
Supporters in Asia-Pacific
“As we continue to deliver more relevant and connected human experiences for our clients, we are aware that there is a continued need for technology to allow us to be more precise in our ability to target audiences in safe environments. The Comscore Industry Trust Initiative allows us to deliver these experiences in brand-relevant and safe areas at scale.”
Jason Tonelli, Executive Director – Technology, Digital and Content, Starcom MediaVest Group Australia
Supporters in Canada
“Giving premium publishers the ability to showcase their high-quality inventory using independent metrics will undoubtedly help them raise their value in the increasingly crowded programmatic supply landscape. Enhancing transparency represents a step forward in raising the level of trust marketers have in the ecosystem, by reducing the chances cloaked, obfuscated, and spoofed media can penetrate marketer wallets.”
Andrew Casale, President and CEO, Index Exchange
Supporters in Europe
“Microsoft Advertising is firmly committed to preserving the integrity of today’s digital ecosystem. In this responsibility, that must be jointly assumed by the entire industry, initiatives like Comscore Industry Trust are essential to identify fraud and ensure the delivery of results; in short, to further develop an efficient and high quality digital advertising.”
Cecilia Francoli Belinchon, Head of Marketing, Spain and Portugal, Microsoft Advertising
“Banzai Media operates in the Vertical Content sector through a portfolio of online vertical sites focused on specific topics and represents a privileged opportunity for companies that wish to reach out to these segments. We stand behind the quality of our ad inventory and we welcome an initiative such as Comscore Industry Trust that will help further prove the value of our ad inventory. Industry Trust brings benefits to both media sellers and buyers, which will help enhance trust among all players in the digital advertising ecosystem.”
Andrea Santagata, CEO, Banzai Media
“As programmatic trading continues to gain traction, efforts to infuse greater transparency into the buying and selling process are increasingly important. We welcome efforts such as Comscore Industry Trust that aim to elevate premium quality inventory within the programmatic marketplace, giving buyers greater confidence and ensuring sellers receive fair value for their high-quality inventory.”
Tim Cain, Managing Director, UK Association of Online Publishers
“UKOM brings people profiles to digital audience measurement, so UKOM is supportive of initiatives that bring greater transparency trust into the measurement of people rather than machines - thereby reducing the opportunity for fraud. Comscore Trust Profiles is such an initiative and employs UKOM-approved data - enabling media buyers and sellers to use the industry’s online audience measurement currency within the pre-bid, programmatic marketplace.”
Douglas McArthur, Chairman of UKOM
Supporters in Latin America
“All participants in the digital advertising industry must work to give advertisers trust regarding their messages reaching real people in relevant context for their content and brand safety. At IAB Mexico, we are confident that these initiatives have a great impact and that only with the involvement of the media, agencies, advertisers and technology platforms can we continue educating and thinking over the potential that programmatic buying technologies are contributing to the industry development. It’s equally important that this transacting in happening in a trusted and transparent environment.”
Gabriel Richaud, General Manager, IAB Mexico
“Given the rapid growth of the programmatic market, it's critical that the market has a way of controlling the quality of the inventory that is being traded through this platform to safeguard brand values. We are excited to see Comscore introducing its Industry Trust initiative around the globe, which will shine a spotlight on the high-quality impressions available programmatically and give greater confidence to advertisers about the inventory they're purchasing, as well as a fair pay to publishers for the value that premium content brings to brands.”
Clara Mendez, Sales Marketing Director, Televisa
“Transparency is an essential attribute in programmatic buying. At Digilant, we are proud to be part of Comscore Industry Trust because we will be able to evaluate our customers and partners. This is an effort to improve the quality of the results of industry.”
Mauricio Vazquez, CEO Mexico and LATAM, Digilant
About the Comscore Industry Trust Initiative
The Comscore Industry Trust Initiative is designed to enable trusted transactions of quality advertising between buyers and sellers. It aligns with five principles of the U.S. Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Trustworthy Digital Supply Chain Initiative, which aims to (1) eliminate fraudulent traffic, (2) combat malware, (3) fight internet piracy, (4) promote brand safety and (5) create accountability. Comscore is working with Joint Industry Committees, trade associations, and auditors around the world that are pursuing similar objectives.
Additional offerings for both media buyers and sellers are forthcoming as part of the Industry Trust Initiative. All products are designed to help both buyers and sellers create a high quality programmatic environment.
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, delivering insights on web, mobile and TV consumer behavior that enable clients to maximize the value of their digital investments. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, but not limited to, expectations regarding the impact and benefits of Comscore’s Industry Trust products and initiatives to Comscore, financial or otherwise. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to: the features and characteristics of the products, the rate of development of the digital marketing intelligence, Internet advertising and e-Commerce markets; the growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce, content, advertising and communications; and the acceptance of new products and methodologies by the industry, including existing and prospective clients.
For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, please refer to Comscore's most recent respective Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and from time to time other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC's Web site (http://www.sec.gov).
Stockholders of Comscore are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. Comscore does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.