Exclusive: Snap expands brand safety tools
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Snapchat parent Snap Inc. has struck a new deal with Integral Ad Science to develop more brand safety tools, executives tell Axios.
Why it matters: The expanded partnership involves developing tools to help Snap compete with larger digital ad networks.
Zoom in: Snap's new tools are designed to give advertisers more confidence before and after running campaigns.
- Snap will use IAS' Total Media Quality product that evaluates brand safety and suitability by analyzing content frame by frame. Snap can show advertisers what percentage of content their ads appear against is safe.
- Snap also unveiled a tool that ensures ads shown within Creator Stories — public posts by a set of approved users — are checked by additional content moderation filters. It goes into alpha testing in the second quarter.
What they're saying: Patrick Harris, Snap's president of the Americas and global partnerships, tells Axios that the new tools are important for Snapchat to meet advertisers' expectations.
- "It's really important that we, Snapchat, are not grading our own homework," Harris says.
- IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider says the partnership drives greater transparency, quality and measurability.
- "This is top of mind for advertisers today," she says.
The big picture: Snap has sought to position itself as a safer communication platform compared to its peers.
- Earlier this year, it released a brand campaign with the tagline "Less Social Media. More Snapchat" that included a pricey Super Bowl commercial.
Between the lines: Snap has been selling ads for nearly a decade and has long been committed to brand safety.
- In 2017, it partnered with IAS, DoubleVerify, and Moat, which served as founding members of the Snapchat Brand Safety Coalition. IAS already provided Snapchat with verification tools that check if ads are viewed by humans.
- But Snap's need for more brand safety tools has grown after adding new features like Spotlight, where casual and professional content creators' videos can get surfaced in an algorithmic feed with ads between them.
Editor's note: This story was updated to add details to paragraph 5.
