Report: Geotargeting Compliance Off The Mark

From the second quarter of the year to the third, overall brand safety of online display inventory decreased by 6%, according to AdSafe Media, a company that markets proof-of-performance and content safety solutions.

Display inventory deemed "high-risk" by AdSafe, and served by ad exchanges, decreased to 15.4% from 16.9% quarter-over-quarter. In total, 5.7% of inventory served directly by ad networks was considered high-risk compared to 3.9% directly served by publishers.

Of note -- particularly with all the recent focus on local advertising -- over 4% of all inventory served in the third quarter failed to conform to geotargeting requirements.

Of this quarterly average, respective geotargeting non-compliance by buying channel breakdowns were 4.3% by publishers; 3.8% by ad exchanges; and 3.7% by ad networks, according to AdSafe.

"One of the most compelling data points we saw in the third quarter was the significant percentage of geotargeting non-compliance across all display sales channels," said Kent Wakeford, co-founder and president of AdSafe Media.

"The failure of a campaign to deliver on its geotargeting parameters is a clear source of inefficiency, whether on a state, regional or national level," Wakeford added. "For advertisers to maximize the performance of their display campaigns, it's essential for this non-compliance to be removed from media buys."

Meanwhile, 28% of inventory served between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. was identified as high risk for advertising, indicating that these hours are the highest risk to advertisers, as compared to the other 4 hour daily periods.

AdSafe also found that 48% of display inventory was served via ad exchanges, real-time-bidding platforms, and sell-side platforms; 33% was served via ad networks; and 19% was served directly via publishers.

Using a proprietary series of algorithmic models informed by 50+ data points, AdSafe rates individual Web page content on a 0 - 1,000 scale to determine its relative brand safety (1,000 represents a high degree of brand safety).

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