GroupM Partners with OpenSlate to Increase Brand Safety on YouTube

Google to Facilitate OpenSlate's Delivery of Safeguards and Greater Transparency to Advertising Clients Served by GroupM Agencies

NEW YORK, Mar. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --GroupM, the media investment management unit of WPP, announced it is partnering with OpenSlate to enhance brand safety on YouTube media buys. OpenSlate is a social video analytics company that maintains data about all ad-supported content on YouTube. Their data platform scores YouTube content for quality and brand safety, and provides advertisers withdeepcontextualinsights.

OpenSlate will provide clients of GroupM's agencies additional controls and content safeguards to support their YouTube media buys. This solution will enhance brand safety in both reservation media, including Google Preferred, and in auction-based inventory bought through AdWords or DoubleClick Bid Manager. Using independent data from OpenSlate, GroupM clients will be able to better define the type of content that should be excluded from their YouTube media buys. OpenSlate will also provide clients with contextual reporting that highlights exactly where their campaigns run. GroupM clients will be the first to access these Google-supported services from OpenSlate for Google Preferred campaigns.

"Long gone are the days when advertisers could simply rely on reaching audiences in carefully curated programming environments. Most brands today have scaled their advertising on digital platforms like YouTube, where most content is user-generated, but their needs for mature and safe ad products and environments persist," said Susan Schiekofer, chief digital investment officer, GroupM North America. "Although it is not possible to eliminate all risks in user-generated media, our clients' hard-won brand reputations must be protected with the best efforts possible. We appreciate that Google is enabling our work with OpenSlate to provide our clients with better brand safety controls, and we believe it's essential that all digital platforms carrying ad-supported user-generated content do the same."

"Our initial focus is to use OpenSlate data to better ensure that GroupM's ads run only in content that flexibly matches the brand safety parameters established by their clients," said OpenSlate CEO Mike Henry. "Every client is unique and each has different brand values and tolerance for risk, which GroupM agencies can accommodate through their use of OpenSlate's data and tools. Over time, more transparency about where ads are running on YouTube will strengthen the ecosystem and help advertisers better understand the role that YouTube content plays in campaign performance."

This new solution will initially roll out in the U.S. and U.K., and plans are underway to adapt it to additional international markets.

About OpenSlate:

OpenSlate provides industry-leading content analytics to advertisers navigating the complexity of social video. The company's global data platform offers insight into the nature and quality of content on YouTube and is used by every major advertising holding company. Ad buyers use OpenSlate to develop YouTube media strategies and define the role of content in brand advertising performance. OpenSlate data also helps creative and PR agencies, brands and content companies identify rising stars and spot content trends in social video. The company's SlateScore has become the industry standard for measuring the quality of content on YouTube. Learn more at www.openslatedata.com.

About GroupM:

GroupM is the leading global media investment management company serving as the parent to WPP media agencies including Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom, Maxus, Essence and m/SIX, as well as the programmatic digital media platform, Xaxis, each global operations in their own right with leading market positions. GroupM's primary purpose is to maximize the performance of WPP's media agencies by operating as leader and collaborator in trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, and proprietary tool development. GroupM's focus is to deliver unrivaled marketplace advantage to its clients, stakeholders and people, and is increasingly working closely for the benefit of clients with WPP's data investment management group, Kantar. Together GroupM and Kantar account for over 50% of WPP's group revenues of more than $20 billion.

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