The Media Trust's Gold Shield Program Recognizes Ad Quality Excellence

MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Media Trust, global leader in quantifying and managing digital risk, is proud to introduce the Gold Shield program, which showcases digital advertising companies' dedication to protecting digital consumers by employing the highest standards of ad quality. To earn this seal of distinction, the inaugural Gold Shield recipients have demonstrated impressive diligence in identifying and removing malware from their platforms.

The first companies to wield the Gold Shield include:

• Adobe Advertising Cloud
• Index Exchange
• Viant
• Yahoo

"In a super competitive AdTech marketplace, a reputation for high-quality advertising is becoming a crucial distinction," said Chris Olson, CEO of The Media Trust. "But revenue isn't the only driver behind these AdTech platforms' intense scrutiny of the myriad ads running through their platforms—they're committed to the safety and well-being of consumers, which is why The Media Trust recognizes these remarkable companies with Gold Shields."

The Gold Shield is a true differentiator in digital advertising as many AdTech companies claim they are committed to stopping malware and promoting overall ad quality without incorporating the necessary tools and resources. This lack of concern exacerbates the challenges of malvertising and low-quality ads for other platforms and publishers, and is increasingly putting consumers at risk by exposing them to digital threats like backdoors that infect systems by circumventing authentication; phishing outbreaks that steal personally identifiable information or defraud consumers; and even ransomware attacks that can cost individuals and organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. Threat actors have only been emboldened by their success—over the last year, The Media Trust's Digital Security & Operations team has detected a ~2X rise in unique malware attacks compared to 2020.

A no-cost program, Gold Shield was created to elevate digital advertising companies dedicated to beating back this malware menace and keeping consumers safe. This means applying tools and resources to keep abreast of emerging threats and ensure ads are clear of malware and other harmful content, as well as staying on top of the latest trends in malvertising and ad quality. Among other criteria, participants are required to:

• Employ high tag- and clickthrough-scanning rates to ensure ads and landing pages are malware-free and of generally high quality;
• Participate in The Media Trust's Gold Shield Working Groups that bring ad platforms together to develop best practices around ad quality;
• Complete the Interactive Advertising Bureau course, Introduction to Malware and Ad Quality, and receive certification; and
• Be certified by the Trustworthy and Accountability Group (TAG) for Malvertising or Brand Safety.

''Securing the programmatic supply chain against malvertising requires a collaborative effort from the industry," said Azma Gohar, Director of Compliance at Index Exchange. "We're committed to delivering malware-free demand to our publisher partners and safeguarding end-users; participating in The Media Trust's Gold Shield Program is a critical component of our prevention program."

Furthermore, the Gold Shield demonstrates to publishers and other AdTech platforms (downstream or upstream) that the recipient company is a premium, well-lit advertising marketplace and can serve as a trusted partner. Gold Shield emblems will be displayed within The Media Trust's platform dashboards that are used by brand advertisers and publishers alike to evaluate the caliber of AdTech companies and their impact on user experience.

"At Viant, we're committed to high-quality, safe consumer advertising experiences," said Jon Ahuna, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Viant. "It is an honor to be recognized by The Media Trust's Gold Shield program, a trusted partner with a like-minded commitment to applying rigorous industry standards that protect both inventory value and the end-user experience."

To learn more about The Media Trust's Gold Shield program, visit https://mediatrust.com/gold-shield/

To learn more about The Media Trust's ad quality and malware prevention tools that help keep digital consumers safe, please visit https://mediatrust.com. 

About The Media Trust

The Media Trust is on a mission to make the internet a healthier, more valuable place for publishers, AdTech providers, enterprise, and consumers. Working with the world's largest, most-heavily trafficked digital properties and their upstream partners, The Media Trust delivers real-time security, data privacy, performance management and quality assurance solutions which help protect, monetize and optimize the user experience across desktop, smartphone, tablet and gaming devices. More than 600 enterprises, media publishers, ad networks/exchanges, and agencies—including 40 of comScore's AdFocus Top 50 websites—rely on The Media Trust to protect their website, their employee internet use, their revenue and, most importantly, their brand. www.MediaTrust.com.

Media Contact:

Gavin Dunaway
[email protected] 
Telephone: 347-986-6451

SOURCE The Media Trust