• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, May 30, 2017

DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science (IAS), and Moat on Tuesday said they’re partnering with Snap to offer advertisers brand-safety controls designed to help ensure their promotions on Snapchat appear in appropriate content. The companies have joined Snap's Snapchat Brand Safety Coalition, a body that will meet regularly to discuss Snap policies, approaches, and industry best practices. The Snapchat Brand Safety Protocol is designed to block ads from appearing adjacent to user-generated content that’s deemed inappropriate or objectionable.

The Coalition comes at a time when advertisers are increasingly nervous about where their ads are turning up after a newspaper investigation in February discovered marketers' ads next to offensive and hate-filled video content on YouTube. On Snapchat, marketers have moved their ads to the platform's curated sections such as its media hub where publishers have channels.

For its part, DoubleVerify said it conducted an independent review and validation of the processes that Snap uses to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of content posted by individual users. "Media quality is the key issue impacting the growth of digital spend today. Protecting the brand equity of our advertisers is critical, and we are proud to be working closely with Snap in our joint efforts to address these issues,” Wayne Gattinella, president and CEO at DoubleVerify, told Real-Time Daily via email.

IAS said it also conducted an in-depth review of Snapchat’s advertising offerings and processes. “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," stated David Hahn, chief product officer, at Integral Ad Science.