Connecting the dots on fraudulent advertising and transparency

When we talk about tackling fraud online, the conversation often centres on what more can be done. That's an important discussion, but before you can identify the gaps, you first need a clear understanding of what's already in place. 

That's exactly what we've been doing through the Government’s Online Advertising Taskforce (OAT), where we're proud to co-chair the Ad Fraud and Standards Working Group with the Home Office, supported by DCMS. 

This isn't new territory for us. We've been part of the OAT since 2023, working alongside government and industry to improve transparency and trust across digital advertising. Between 2023 and 2025, we led a working group focused on increasing adoption of the IAB Gold Standard, our cross-industry initiative that promotes the use of open standards and best practices to improve accountability across digital advertising. 

The issue we face  

Fraud is one of the UK's biggest challenges, harming consumers, businesses and the wider economy. The government's Fraud Strategy identifies scam advertising as one of the ways criminals exploit legitimate online services, making it a growing area of focus for policymakers. 

For us, though, this work has never been about responding to political concern alone. It's about retaining trust in digital advertising. Scam ads don't just harm the people they target, but they undermine confidence in the wider advertising industry. Everyone involved in the supply chain has a shared interest in making it harder for criminals to misuse it, while continuing to strengthen the standards that help keep it transparent and accountable. 

What we've done so far  

One of the first things we recognised as a group was that, while there are already well-established standards designed to improve transparency across digital advertising, there wasn't a single picture of how they work together across today's advertising supply chain. 

So that's where we started. 

Over the past several months, we've worked with organisations from across the buy side and sell side of ad tech, publishers, advertisers and specialist third-party providers to map how existing standards are being implemented in practice. Alongside that, we've gathered detailed feedback on where they're delivering real value, where adoption is inconsistent and where implementation can be challenging. We haven't uncovered a silver bullet, and we didn't expect to. What we've built instead is something just as valuable: a shared evidence base. For the first time, we have a much clearer picture of how standards are working across the supply chain, where they're already making a difference and where there's more work to do. 

Just as importantly, we've seen a real willingness from across the industry to engage openly. Organisations that compete commercially every day have come together to share knowledge and experience because everyone recognises that trust in digital advertising is in our collective interests. That's been one of the most encouraging aspects of the work so far. 

What comes next  

Those insights are now defining the next phase of the programme. We'll be looking at where greater adoption of existing standards could have the biggest impact, where additional instruction or best practice could support implementation, and whether there are areas where new approaches would genuinely add value. The plan is to report back on this by the end of 2026 with a clear roadmap.  

This work also comes at an important time. Fraud prevention will remain high on the agenda for government and regulators, and it's important that we continue to demonstrate how our industry is working together to strengthen how the ecosystem responds to this. By collaborating across the supply chain, sharing expertise and building on existing standards, we can help make digital advertising more resilient to fraud while maintaining the trust that underpins it. 

This work is far from finished, but we've already reached an important milestone. For the first time, we've built a common understanding of how standards are working across today's advertising ecosystem and where our efforts should be focused next. 

As we move into the next phase of the programme, we'll continue working with government and industry to turn those insights into practical action. Strengthening trust in digital advertising isn't something any one organisation can deliver alone, but it's something we all have a responsibility to contribute to.