In the rapidly evolving digital advertising landscape, staying ahead of trends is crucial for brands looking to maximize their media investments. As artificial intelligence, retail media networks, and connected TV continue to reshape the industry, advertisers must navigate new opportunities while ensuring efficiency, brand safety, and measurable outcomes. At the forefront of this transformation is DoubleVerify (DV), a global leader in digital media measurement and analytics, dedicated to enhancing transparency and effectiveness in advertising.
MediaNews4U’s Editorial Team spoke with Samir Karpe, Country Manager at Scibids and DoubleVerify and , to discuss the evolving adtech landscape, the role of AI, and the importance of third-party verification:
Generative AI is revolutionizing creative messaging in ad tech. How is DoubleVerify ensuring that AI-generated ads maintain brand safety and authenticity across platforms?
Samir Karpe: Generative AI has transformed content creation, enabling rapid production of vast amounts of content. While this presents opportunities, it also introduces risks such as copyright infringement, misuse of deepfakes, and the spread of misinformation. At DoubleVerify, we use AI deeply integrated into our solutions to identify and flag such issues, ensuring advertisers are informed about potential risks. Since the pace and scale of AI-generated content are unprecedented, it’s crucial to use AI to combat these challenges effectively.
What are some examples of industry-specific AI advertising models that are proving most effective in refining ad targeting and distribution?
Samir Karpe: The primary objective of advertising is to connect with consumers effectively. As digital platforms expand, targeting the right consumer in the right context becomes vital. DoubleVerify offers solutions across four key pillars to ensure this:
- Fraud Protection: Ensuring ads are seen by real humans.
- Viewability: Confirming that ads are placed in visible segments.
- Brand Safety and Suitability: Ensuring content aligns with brand values while placing ads in positive contexts.
- Geography Targeting: Ensuring ads are delivered in intended locations. Additionally, our proprietary Attention product measures engagement and exposure to ensure that ads capture meaningful consumer attention.
What are some key challenges advertisers face in maintaining relevance without compromising compliance?
Samir Karpe: The key challenges include:
- Privacy Regulations: As privacy norms tighten globally, advertisers must ensure compliance while achieving sharp targeting. Technologies that operate in privacy-friendly environments are essential.
- Media Adjacency: With the surge in generative AI content, advertisers must ensure they aren’t investing in low-quality or irrelevant media.
- CTV Fraud: Studies reveal that one in three CTV impressions may be served when the television is off. Managing this media wastage is crucial.
- Emerging Fraud Tactics: As fraudsters follow ad spend trends, advertisers need specialists like DoubleVerify to mitigate risks and create a secure digital ecosystem.
How does AI enhance DoubleVerify’s ability to detect invalid traffic, fraud, or ensure ad transparency?
Samir Karpe: Fraud remains a major challenge in digital advertising. DoubleVerify’s DV Fraud Lab uses advanced machine learning to analyze vast data sets and identify suspicious patterns. For instance, if a surge in impressions originates from a single IP address or device, our system flags this behavior. By leveraging AI, we can filter out fraudulent inventory before it enters the biddable ecosystem, ensuring our clients’ ad budgets are spent effectively.
How do privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA impact AI’s integration in ad tech solutions, and how is DoubleVerify addressing these concerns?
Samir Karpe: Privacy regulations have reshaped data collection practices. At DoubleVerify, we prioritize data hashing to anonymize user information. Additionally, our AI-driven performance models focus on analyzing patterns rather than personal data. By identifying commonalities in converting impressions — such as device type, browsing behavior, or geographic trends — we create privacy-compliant targeting strategies that enhance campaign performance without compromising user privacy.
With the shift toward Connected TV (CTV) and streaming platforms, how is DoubleVerify addressing ad fraud and viewability challenges in these spaces?
Samir Karpe: CTV has experienced rapid growth, with India alone seeing a 160% increase in impressions. However, fraud and viewability issues are major concerns. Our solutions for CTV include:
- Fraud Detection: Using AI and machine learning to block fraudulent activities in real-time.
- Viewability Assurance: Our fully on-screen certification guarantees that ads are delivered when the screen is active.
- Brand Suitability Controls: Advertisers can avoid exposure to inappropriate content with customizable safety settings.
- Geographical Relevance: Ensuring ads reach their intended audience in specific regions. By combining these capabilities, DoubleVerify ensures advertisers achieve maximum impact in the CTV ecosystem.
Can you share case studies where DoubleVerify has significantly helped brands address ad fraud or improve campaign performance?
Samir Karpe: While I can’t disclose specific brand names, I can confirm that several global CPG brands have rigorously tested and adopted our solutions. Our AI-driven product, DV Scibids, has been instrumental in improving programmatic campaigns for advertisers in India and beyond. We’ve successfully helped brands reduce media wastage and enhance campaign performance through precise targeting and fraud prevention.
How does DoubleVerify collaborate with major platforms like Google, Meta, and OTTs to enhance ad verification?
Samir Karpe: The industry-wide vision to create a safer digital advertising ecosystem has enabled strong partnerships. Platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok work closely with us to ensure their inventory is measured and verified for advertisers. Our integrations extend across DSPs, publishers, and platforms, ensuring comprehensive protection for advertisers and improving the overall digital advertising landscape.
DoubleVerify also works closely with major OTT publishers to help verify their inventory in terms of viewability, brand suitability, and fraud prevention. Our publisher suite enables these platforms to showcase their inventory as “DoubleVerify Verified,” adding credibility when presenting to advertisers. Any publisher distributing digital inventory can partner with us to ensure their inventory is verified and available for advertisers with confidence.
How are Indian brands, especially SMEs and retail brands adapting to third-party verification solutions?
Samir Karpe: While global brands widely adopt third-party verification due to established best practices, SMEs have been slower to adopt. However, we’re witnessing increasing interest from local brands as they realize that the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of prevention. With growing concerns about brand safety, deepfake content, and misinformation, Indian SMEs are becoming smarter and recognizing the importance of verification. We expect broader adoption in the coming years.
Can you share strategies that brands and platforms can adopt to avoid brand safety issues, such as inappropriate ad placements?
Samir Karpe: To mitigate such risks, we recommend using a combination of pre-bid and post-bid solutions. Pre-bid solutions allow advertisers to filter out undesirable content before ads are placed, while post-bid solutions help detect and block any unsafe placements that might have slipped through. Additionally, publishers must adopt best practices by cleaning up their supply chain and ensuring their ad inventory is verified.
AI is transforming the adtech industry. How is DoubleVerify leveraging AI to enhance ad performance and brand protection?
Samir Karpe: AI is playing a crucial role in refining ad targeting, improving campaign performance, and preventing fraud. At DoubleVerify, we are actively building AI-driven solutions that go beyond protection and link it directly to performance outcomes. For instance, our DV Scibids solution helps advertisers improve media buys and drive business results through AI-powered insights. AI is also crucial for automating campaign setups, optimizing performance, and ensuring that inventory meets brand safety standards in real time.
