The Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) and the Trustworthy Accountability Group(TAG), a pair of UK and US cross-industry bodies, have announced the next stage of their partnership which began in January this year. This next step will see the adoption of the TAG ‘Certified Against Fraud’ programme in the UK from 1 January 2019.

In bringing the anti-fraud programme to the UK, there will be an alignment behind one set of anti-fraud standards in the UK and US. The programme means that participating companies wold have to employ specific technology and appoint an internal compliance officer, while it offers an extra level of rigour and transparency as all companies must be independently audited.

“Quite simply, this is a game-changer for the UK. The battle against online ad fraud is global, and it’s best tackled with an aligned approach,” said Richard Foan, executive chairman of JICWEBS, who will step down from his role at the end of the year. “By adopting TAG’s ‘Certified Against Fraud’ programme, the UK market will benefit from a proven approach that has delivered impressive results in the US.”

Adoption of the programme also inches the duo closer to a complete alignment of their brand safety and anti-fraud initiatives – with TAG planning to merge its Inventory Quality Guidelines with JICWEBS DTSG Brand Safety Standards in 2019.

“In the US, companies using TAG Certified Channels have seen an 83 per cent reduction in fraud compared to the broader industry average,” said Mike Zaneis, president and CEO of TAG. “The UK and US will now benefit from one standard in both markets, and we look forward to working with JICWEBS to align approaches further.”