• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 6, 2011

Ad verification continues to have a positive influence on the online advertising industry's ability to comply with standards and preferences. DoubleVerify's semi-annual Trust Index for 1H 2011 appears to prove that concept.

The company verifies more than 50 billion impressions each month. The data illustrates that advertisers and networks are standardizing brand protection and compliance verification as part of their media buys.

AudienceScience, Casale Media, Dedicated Media, Epic Marketplace, interclick, Microsoft Media Network, Specific Media, Spectrum, Undertone and Yahoo Network Plus topped the list of companies on the compliance list.

The top-performing networks had an average noncompliance incident rate of 0.6% and the middle tier came in with an average rate of 5%. The bottom tier of networks dropped from 35% to 26% compared with the second half of 2010.

All tiers experienced declines in noncompliance and campaign variability when compared to prior periods. These numbers demonstrate that verification leads to ad networks with lower noncompliance rates and increased campaign consistency.

The most compliant ad platforms had an average noncompliance incident rate of 4%. The lower tier of players had an average noncompliant incident rate of 20%. The variability per campaign was equal between the top- and bottom-performing tiers.

Geographic targeting compliance continues to vary among publishers, according to the report. Top and middle tiers show little difference in noncompliance rates, while the bottom-performing tier shows significantly higher levels of noncompliance and campaign variability.

The top-performing publishers saw an average rate of 0.1% for campaign impressions served outside of targeted countries with a standard deviation of 3%. The bottom-performing publishers saw an average rate of 18% for campaign impressions served outside of targeted countries with a 12% standard deviation.

The findings were based on analyzing campaigns of more than 150 billion advertising impressions across networks, platforms and publishers on which verified campaigns ran. They were compared with benchmarks for specific types of noncompliance, such as inappropriate content, ad placement and geographic targeting. The data illustrates that advertisers and networks are standardizing brand protection and compliance verification as part of their media buys.

Last month, DoubleVerify received $33 million from investors such as JMI Equity and Institutional Venture Partners.