• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, March 22, 2018

The industry's Trustworthy Accountability Group has now awarded certification "seals" to 80 companies, the organization announced Thursday.

The group, which aims to combat malware, piracy, fraud and other online threats, also said it has recertified 37 companies for 2018. Only two companies that were required to obtain recertifications in 2018 failed to do so on time, according to a TAG spokesperson.

"We are currently working with those two companies to get their paperwork in order and are confident they will be recertified soon," the spokesperson said.

Companies that will receive the re-certification for 2018 include GroupM, Horizon Media, IPG Mediabrands, Omnicom and Publicis Groupe. TAG also offers a searchable registry of certified companies. 

TAG awards various "seals" stating that companies comply with TAG's guidelines in different areas -- including fraud, piracy and malware. Overall, more than 530 companies from 28 countries including Australia, Chile, Israel and the Russian Federation have applied for TAG Registration and the TAG ID, which are required to participate in the certification programs. Around 400 of the applicants are based in the U.S.

Most of the companies that will receive seals have applied for "global" ones, TAG says. The group recently announced it is expanding in Europe by opening a new office in London. Mike Zaneis, TAG CEO, told MediaPost last week that the group aims to offer more in-market support to European companies that want to join.