Overview

Traffic quality management has two main goals:

• ensuring advertiser brand safety - preventing any misplacements of ads in inappropriate content in order to protect an advertiser’s brand and reputation
• preventing any invalid traffic, i. e. fake, non-human traffic caused by bots, spiders etc. as well as fraudulent traffic such as bots or spiders masquerading as legitimate users, hijacked devices/ad tags/creatives etc.

Equativ has installed a wide range of processes and tools to ensure that all traffic of its inventory providers is of appropriate quality:

• inventory review: verification of the content of all publisher properties (websites, apps, referrers) using manual categorization and automated web classification; no monetization of any new properties without prior approval by Equativ; rejection if needed to protect advertisers from prohibited or sensitive content
• automated detection and filtering of invalid traffic, powered by HUMAN, providing ad verification, bot detection, and cybersecurity technology

Inventory review

Review process

Before you start the monetization of your properties (websites, apps, referrers), Equativ reviews the content and either approves or rejects monetization. This applies to the onboarding process (customer starting to work with Equativ) and any subsequent new properties added later. The review process works as follows:

• you download the Inventory check template and provide all domains and apps you intend to monetize; make sure you add the root domain only (e. g. mydomain.com); do not add www. or http://;  there is no need to add individual subdomains (e. g. mysubdomain.domain.com)
• you send the file to your main point of contact at Equativ
• Equativ's quality team will then verify the content and the traffic statistics of the provided properties; the process is automated, combined with some manual verification
• the quality team then either approves or rejects entire properties or specific content on the properties; the verification is done in waves, with the possibility to start monetization after a wave of domains is approved
• in case of rejection, you must not place any ad tags on the rejected properties; additionally, Equativ will permanently block any rejected domains/content in its system

Infringements

In case of infringements (i.e. providing inventory with prohibited content), Equativ will ask you to remove any Equativ ad tags from the property/content. Depending on the nature and scale of the infringements, Equativ may trigger additional escalation levels:

• warning with the request to remove said inventory from monetization
• exclusion from premium demand side platforms
• withholding of partial or total payments
• contract termination

Prohibited content

The following content is prohibited at Equativ:

• illegal activity - illegal weapons, illicit drugs, counterfeiting, copyright infringements, terrorism etc.
• pornographic/sexual content - nudity, sex education, sexual services etc.
• inappropriate content - hate speech, violence, racism etc.
• unwanted content - cults, sects, weapons, hunting/safety equipment, screen savers, themes, picture shows etc.
• malicious software - virus, spyware, phishing etc.
• miscellaneous - parked domains, proxies, redirectors, URL reducers, “get paid to surf” programs, CDNs, unclassified IPs, unavailable sites, restricted access sites
• made for advertising (MFA) - websites and apps focusing primarily on generating ad revenues rather than on offering valuable and meaningful content
• bundles - utility apps, incentivized traffic, launchers, lockers etc.

Premium DSP activation

By default, Equativ does not activate all connected DSPs (demand partners) in a given network because some premium DSPs have specific quality requirements. Therefore, a dedicated inventory review is required prior to activation. Equativ decides on the activation of premium DSPs based on the following criteria:

• compliance with industry quality standards: Ads.txt, Sellers.json and SupplyChain Object etc.
• relationship to publisher: direct publishers/premium sales houses are more likely to be approved than ad networks/aggregators
• number of properties: premium inventory providers tend to have less properties than aggregators with many sites
• monetization history: premium DSP activation is more likely if the monetization is at premium CPMs over a longer timeframe 
• complaint history: complaints of DSPs in the past make approval of the inventory provider less likely

Inventory review FAQ

Why does Equativ review the inventory of all inventory providers?

Misplacements of ads in inappropriate content can seriously harm a brand’s reputation; therefore, Equativ reviews the content of all properties (domains, apps) that inventory providers intend to monetize through Equativ's exchange;

I want to monetize additional properties. Do I have to ask Equativ for authorization? 

Yes, the monetization of a property (domain, app) requires prior approval by Equativ's quality team. Read more in chapter “Review process” above. 

What happens if I violate Equativ's traffic quality policy?

Equativ will ask you to stop the monetization of the prohibited content. Depending on the nature and scale of the infringements, Equativ may trigger additional measures such as exclusion from premium demand, withholding of partial or total payments or even contract termination

On which kind of content does Equativ prohibit monetization? 

The monetization of a property will not be authorized if its content is categorized as belonging to a prohibited content category; see full list of categories in chapter “Prohibited content” above.

Can I get access to all of Equativ's demand partners (DSPs), no matter the content I am monetizing?

No, Equativ classifies its demand partners as either “regular” or premium DSPs. Access to premium DSPs is disabled by default; it requires a dedicated inventory review; for more details about the criteria, see chapter “Premium DSP activation” above