From bad ads to good causes: Donating ad impressions to spread meaningful messages

Invalid traffic (IVT) and low-quality ads are bad news for both publishers and advertisers. Publishers expect their inventory to be filled with high-quality media, and advertisers expect ad impressions to come from real audiences, not fraudulent traffic.

Verve Group Cares, an employee-led initiative, views bad ads as an opportunity to do good. The team works directly with nonprofits and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to line up meaningful messages for activation in response to malware ads and other sub-par advertisements.

“At Verve Group we truly are a global company, so we want to embrace and help promote causes that are global in nature — not just specific to one country or region,” says Mike Glover, the California-based Director of Business Development for Verve Group’s in-app marketplace. “We have an internal team of half a dozen employees from all around the world who weigh in on the causes we can help promote. Whether it’s climate change, women’s rights, movember (to name a few), it’s been a very rewarding experience to align with so many great causes”.

Verve Group Cares helps amplify campaigns for these charitable organizations by donating ad impressions diverted from low-quality ads. This means publishers can ensure high-quality media alongside their content, ultimately creating a better user experience while reducing wasted ad spends. 

So far in 2024, Verve Group Cares has been donating ad impressions to the organization behind International Women’s Day (IWD). Celebrated globally every March, IWD champions the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. IWD is a powerful reminder of the progress made towards gender equality — and the work that’s still ahead.

The theme for IWD 2024 is “Inspire Inclusion,” with this vision:

When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world.

And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.

Collectively, let’s forge a more inclusive world for women.

How it works

Verve Group ensures that advertisers’ messages reach real people, not invalid traffic, with comprehensive processes to weed out low-quality inventory and IVT. This holistic approach is both high-tech and hands-on, including:

• Rigorous inventory quality control. Verve Group manually curates every placement during onboarding and whitelisting a new supply partner.
• Proprietary, in-house algorithms with adaptive machine-learning that identify complex patterns and detect fraudulent inventory — in real time, pre-bid.
• Partnerships with Pixalate and Human to verify legitimate traffic.
• Partnership with GeoEdge to protect publishers from malware ads.
• Inventory transparency with app-ads.txt.
• Strictly enforced content guidelines for all publishers.

Beyond catching IVT and bad ads, these effective safeguards also create a unique opportunity to give back. To initiate the ad replacements, Verve Group Cares collaborates with the chosen NGO to identify areas of interest and coordinate creatives for various ad formats.

In addition to the team’s most recent work with International Women’s Day, Verve Group Cares recently diverted 6.4M impressions to Movember last quarter. Movember is an organization that supports cancer research and suicide prevention. In addition to the team’s most recent work with International Women’s Day, Verve Group Cares recently diverted 6.4M impressions In Q4 of 2023 to Movember, in support of cancer research and suicide prevention.

Looking ahead, Verve Group Cares will be supporting an organization dedicated to LGBTQIA+ during Pride Month, and is also selecting a sustainability-minded organization for later this year. “We’re aiming to impact society, nature, and health positively,” says Carolin Klier, a Berlin-based senior HR manager. “We actively support NGOs and various impactful initiatives by placing ads in response to invalid traffic.”

Let’s make media better

At Verve Group, “Let’s make media better” is more than a motto. It’s a call to action to find new ways to tackle challenges in digital advertising. The team behind Verve Group Cares is making media better by transforming IVT into lasting impact.