Meet the Challenger Adtech Firms Competing to Grab Oracle Advertising Clients | AdWeek July 2024

As Oracle Advertising winds down—with it, contextual firm Grapeshot and media quality firm Moat — ad verification firms like Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify are in the best position to scoop up former clients, (neither has said how many inbound leads they’ve had).

But marketers, agencies and publishers have grown increasingly suspicious of the traditional ad verification firms over the last few years as the programmatic ecosystem seems to be sprouting new ills. A glut of undetected made-for-advertising sites, continued ad fraud, and overzealous use of brand-safety blocking tools have made advertisers look for other solutions.

Critics also point to ad verification firms’ creep into the sell side, said at least two ad buyer sources and two adtech sources. The same company offering audience segmentation and then auditing the quality of those audiences doesn’t sit right, spurring buyers to look for more independent intermediaries.

That’s opened up the doors for a raft of adtech firms looking to fill the gaps.

Broadly, ad verification firms have three main pillars of products: brand safety, viewability and fraud. These firms often offer overlapping services. Here are some of the adtech challengers, according to industry experts, welcoming those former Oracle Advertising clients with open arms.

Zefr

Zefr, which offers brand safety and suitability targeting and measurement on video in walled gardens, was founded in 2008. Over the last few weeks, it’s had inbound leads from five global brands and has been asked by all the holding companies to share how they would augment the migration from Oracle Advertising, said Andrew Serby, chief commercial officer. It’s also had inbounds from non-Oracle Advertising brands seeing this as an opportune time to re-assess their overall brand safety partnerships.

“When [brands] test out the technology of Zefr versus the legacy open web providers, they can see the transparency we provide versus a simple check-the-box number, which helps us differentiate from the legacy companies,” said Serby. ​“We’re calling this a verification unbundling moment.”

Zefr has raised $65.1 million over eight rounds, the company said. It is profitable and has 200 staffers. Current customers include Mazda, McCain Foods and retailer Marks and Spencer.