Aug 03, 2017 | Cleaning Up The Supply Chain: Rocket Fuel is TAG Certified

By Ari Levenfeld, Chief Privacy Officer

As the futurist and famed author Arthur C. Clarke asserted in the most famous of his three laws, 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' The adage illustrates the importance of transparency in digital media and marketing, if we want to ensure that advertisers are confident that they're getting what they pay for in an often murky environment.

Earlier this week, the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) awarded the first group of 'Certified Against Malware' seals to nine companies that successfully implemented the organization's robust anti-malware standards. As one of the founding members of TAG, we are very pleased to also be one of the first to receive this malware certification.

At Rocket Fuel, we believe that TAG represents an important step by the advertising industry to fight criminal activity in the digital advertising supply chain. Rocket Fuel has been a supporter and participant of TAG's initiative to provide transparency and build trust since day one.

As Rocket Fuel CEO Randy Wootton has pointed out, despite the strides made over the past several years, the digital marketing industry continues to face a 'trust crisis.' This crisis is driven by both lack of transparency and uncertainty over whether technological breakthroughs that allow advertisers to take advantage of the internet's scale of content and data really are beneficial.

We now have access to more data than any one individual can reasonably synthesize and interpret. That's why our industry is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to look for patterns and make quick, smart decisions. Many companies now claim to be using artificial intelligence to run programmatic advertising campaigns. However, this shift also raises questions about what may be going on 'behind the scenes.' A black box approach means companies should take steps to demonstrate that they're doing the right thing in areas such as the fight against malware.

Rocket Fuel proactively manages issues of transparency and quality in our media supply chain, extending our own high standards-now TAG certified-downstream to our supply partners by enforcing strict guidelines for cost and quality transparency. Our customers reap the benefits of these efforts because the Rocket Fuel DSP was built to pass through cost, performance and quality reporting without filters, asterisks, or hidden markups.

In order to receive TAG anti-malware certification, companies are required to adhere to a rigorous set of guidelines outlined in TAG's 'Certified Against Malware' Program (development of which was led by the organization's Anti-Malware Working Group, comprised of more than fifty companies dedicated to fighting malware). In addition, certified companies are required to adopt the organization's Best Practices for Scanning Creative for Malware and to meet the following additional requirements:

• Documenting appropriate points of contact at partner companies
• Documenting malware scanning responsibilities
• Scanning a reasonable percentage of total inventory
• Establishing procedures for defining Red Flag events and handling of standard malware incidents
• Designating an anti-malware contact
• Establishing a formal post-mortem process for Red Flag malware incidents and reviewing this process semi-annually

Becoming TAG certified represents a significant investment of time, energy, knowledge and problem-solving. For that reason the team at Rocket Fuel and I applaud our fellow TAG certified against malware companies-including AppNexus, DataXu, Google, LKQD, OpenX, PCH, Sovrn and The Media Trust. By working together, I am confident that our industry will continue to make tangible strides towards achieving a healthier advertising supply chain that is better for customers and consumers alike.