UK and US cross-industry standards bodies the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) and the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) have promised more consistency within the industry by aligning their brand safety and anti-fraud initiatives.

The partnership will see JICWEBS continue to drive brand safety efforts in the UK. TAG will lead on fraud, malware, and piracy, while endorsing JICWEBS’ Digital Trading Standards Group (DTSG) brand safety initiative to companies in the UK market.

“JICWEBS and TAG are both committed to raising standards in digital advertising, so it makes sense to create a consistent approach across the UK and US, which is what many from both the buy and sell side want,” said Richard Foan, chair of JICWEBS. “Initially, the partnership will offer a practical way for companies operating in the UK market to buy and benefit from both TAG’s and JICWEBS’ products, with the ultimate aim to fuse the best bits from both approaches to create a ‘super’ programme that maximises brand safety and minimises fraud.”

Under the agreement, JICWEBS will offer TAG registration in the UK market and introduced TAG’s ‘certified against malware’ and ‘certified against piracy initiatives in the UK. Furthermore, JICWEBS’ anti-fraud programmes will be merged into TAG’s ‘certified against fraud’ programme by the close of this year. Finally, the pair’s brand safety initiatives will be aligned by 2019 but, until then, TAG will endorse and promote JICWEBS initiatives to its members trading in the UK.

“By working together, TAG and JICWEBS can ensure that UK advertisers have a clear and consistent approach to building brand safety while fighting fraud, malware, and piracy,” said Mike Zaneis, president and CEO of TAG. “By reducing redundancy and harmonising the existing efforts, TAG and JICWEBS will be able to expand their efforts, increase adoption, and further protect the digital supply chain worldwide.”