Facebook adds IAS to brand-safety partners

Facebook has added Integral Ad Science (IAS) to its certified brand safety partners.

IAS will now offer its clients a brand-safety solution for Facebook ads placed across in-stream, Instant Articles and Audience Network.

Using machine learning, IAS will send its advertising clients blocklists that help control the types of content surrounding their ads.

It builds on the ad verification company’s existing relationship with Facebook, which includes viewability and fraud measurement across the platform’s display and video inventory, on desktop and mobile, and across Facebook and Instagram.

The social-media platform first added brand-safety partners to its Facebook Marketing Partners (FMP) program in January this year, to allow advertisers to work with third parties to manage their brand-safety controls for Facebook campaigns.

DoubleVerify and OpenSlate were the first partners to join the program.

Facebook VP of partnerships Gene Alston said: "It’s important to provide choice to address brand-safety preferences of our advertisers, and we will continue enabling partners to build new solutions to meet those needs."

IAS APAC managing director Stephen Dolan said Facebook is committed to providing advertisers more control of where their ads appear without compromising the potential reach and available inventory. 

"With the steady increase in extremist content, fake news, and brand advertising appearing next to unsavory content, brand safety has now been thrust fully into the limelight," he added.

IAS VP of business development Joseph Quaglia said the agreement forms part of the company's aim to provide the most comprehensive solution across devices and platforms, "ensuring our client’s ads reach their key audiences and appear in brand suitable environments".