Major beverage brand audits its DSPs over World Cup ad transparency
Blockboard CEO Matt Wasserlauf says a major beverage company is running an independent audit of its digital media campaigns, including CTV and online video, that ran across the World Cup, and that Blockboard is one of the vendors being reviewed. Wasserlauf says demand-side platforms have long refused to share log files with marketers, citing legal risk or personal data concerns, but argues that personal information can be removed from those files without blocking access to timestamps and delivery data. He says a couple of agencies have already audited major DSPs including The Trade Desk, and that at the Cannes Lions Festival he learned from a confidential source that another DSP failed to provide log files an auditor had demanded.
Campaigns booked into live sports inventory have run for years without buyers seeing proof the creative aired as promised, according to Wasserlauf, who says clients have paid into a black box for as long as 15 years. Media planners who want verified delivery data should expect resistance from providers unwilling to share log files, and may need independent auditors to obtain them. Blockboard cites its own results as a benchmark for accountability: it says it delivers a 90% improvement over major DSPs on outcomes, pointing to store traffic gains for clients such as Sunglass Hut and Jersey Mike's and lead generation for clients such as Dexcom and Proactiv Skincare. Buyers evaluating DSP and video partners now have another data point to weigh transparency and measurable outcomes against sunk ad spend.