Zefr Rolls Out Brand Safety, Suitability Solution for TikTok In-Feed Ads | AdWeek

Zefr Rolls Out Brand Safety, Suitability Solution for TikTok In-Feed Ads

Insights and campaign analytics map back to each of the 11 GARM categories

By David Cohen

JANUARY 24th, 2022

Zefr debuted a brand safety and brand suitability post-bid measurement solution for in-feed ads on TikTok in Canada, the European Union, the U.K. and the U.S.

The partnership between the two companies was initially revealed during the TikTok World virtual event last September.

The new solution is powered by Zefr’s Cognition AI machine learning engine, and it provides advertisers with independent, video-level verification of their content adjacencies on TikTok, with full mapping to the Global Alliance for Responsible Media brand safety floor and brand suitability categories.

Brands using the solution will have access to deeper insights and campaign analytics mapped back to each of the 11 GARM categories, and they can access the solution via TikTok’s Ads Manager after selecting a pre-bid option such as Inventory Filter.

Zefr said its Cognition AI engine combines audio, text and video frame-by-frame analysis with scaled human review and moderation, and its tech stack was built specifically for video platforms.

TikTok head of brand safety and industry relations Dave Byrne said in a statement, ​“TikTok provides a platform for brands to safely showcase their products and services while also connecting them with diverse communities. We strive to build solutions responsibly, equitably and openly so that people continue to create, watch and share the content that they love. Our partnership with Zefr provides brands the opportunity and transparency to analyze and understand the impact of their campaigns that are safely running on our platform.”

Zefr co-founder and co-CEO Rich Raddon added, ​“TikTok is the fastest growing platform in the world, and this product partnership further signals its leadership position in GARM brand safety and brand suitability. Audience attention continues to shift away from the open web toward platforms like TikTok, and Zefr is thrilled to introduce a new technical architecture that properly measures video and feed environments, signaling a new era in the legacy measurement space.”

And Omnicom Media Group managing director, social activation Rob Pearsall said, ​“We see Zefr’s and TikTok’s partnership as an example of the type of collaboration between media stakeholders that is essential to achieving brand safety and suitability measurement, with video level transparency against GARM standards. As OMG has demonstrated through our Council on Accountable Social Advertising, we see this a critical mandate on which social platforms must deliver, so being able to leverage new technology partners to better measure our adjacency in the TikTok feed is a very welcome and needed addition to the marketplace.”