Reddit partners with IAS and DoubleVerify on brand safety

Reddit is partnering with two leading brand safety companies, Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify, as it continues to lure ad dollars.

The new partnerships, announced this week, will allow advertisers to use DoubleVerify and IAS’s measurement and brand safety tech, which can scan text and images and, in theory, prevent advertisers from appearing alongside content they might want to avoid. The partnerships will also give advertisers access to the companies’ viewability and measurement tools.

Reddit has long faced brand safety concerns from advertisers, since controversial content, including pornography, can be found on the site. But since going public in March, it’s been pitching itself to Madison Avenue as a “must buy” for advertisers, rolling out full-funnel capabilities and new inventory.

• Reddit first announced it was working with DoubleVerify in 2022, but announced further measurement tools for advertisers this week. Reddit has also worked with other vendors like Oracle on third-party verification. (Oracle this week announced that it was divesting from its advertising business.

“Our partnership will give Reddit customers additional confidence that their ads are appearing alongside content that aligns with their brand values via reliable and accurate data,” IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider said in a statement.

Reddit made $804 million in revenue last year, most of which came from its advertising business. The platform remains relatively top-heavy: 10 advertisers represented more than 25% of Reddit’s ad revenue in both 2022 and 2023, Marketing Brew previously reported.

Elsewhere: Publishers and advertisers have recently soured on these verification companies, however, and an Adalytics researcher has been bringing the industry’s latest controversies to light, Business Insider reported.