YouTube has received another brand safety accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC). This is the second year in a row for the digital platform to bag this specific assessment level.
The MRC content-level brand safety accreditation evaluates if a platform can ensure its digital ads will reach its intended sites and targeted audience.
The assessment proves that YouTube ads reach the projected people. It provides assurance and transparency over its ad targeting.
The MRC audited YouTube’s content review systems. It even included the platform’s machine learning processes and general policies.
“The MRC auditors also met with our brand safety personnel on site to review our processes and dug into how we protect our global community – including our procedures for evaluating content across different languages. The accreditation also recognized YouTube’s advertiser safety error rate, a metric authorized by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) which evaluates the total percentage of ad impressions that run across violative content,” says YouTube.
The audit found YouTube’s systems to be reliable. It means the figures found in your ad performance stats are the real people you have been targeting in your campaigns.
The award is on the heels of YouTube’s continuous improvement for its ad transparency tools. It has been a focus in recent years.
In 2017, YouTube faced advertiser backlash on why their ads appeared right next to controversial content. YouTube has enhanced its placement control ever since. The new third-party verification options reflects its improved brand safety.
“Over the past two years, we’ve worked directly with advertisers and agencies to better understand their needs and develop a set of best practices, such as anchoring on YouTube’s inventory modes and reassessing whether they should exclude certain types of content. When advertisers knew how to better navigate our suitability controls, they experienced performance benefits ranging from increased reach and view-through rates to decreased cost-per-view,” adds YouTube. The new assessment and options will assure YouTube advertisers better. And it strengthens the platform’s position as a trustworthy media for video ads.
