- Dealer Marketing Magazine

Burlington, VT — April 11, 2018 — Premier digital marketing partner Dealer.com has joined a group of elite companies to earn the Certified Against Fraud Seal by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), becoming the first and only automotive-specific digital advertising company to carry this highly coveted designation.

“We’re proud of the steps we’ve taken at Dealer.com to protect the advertising investments of our clients, and the TAG certification is a credit to the company’s commitment and effectiveness in combating this problem,” said Mike Rother, general manager of Dealer.com. “With advertising fraud getting more complex, it’s vital we remain aggressive with sophisticated prevention solutions that help detect and disrupt malicious activity impacting our dealer and OEM clients.”

While digital advertising revenue reached $72.5 billion in 2016 in the U.S. market, the growth of this industry has been hindered by the persistent challenge of fraud, with brands losing an estimated $6.5 billion in 2017 due to invalid traffic from bot fraud.¹

TAG is the leading global certification program fighting criminal activity and increasing trust in the digital advertising industry. According to a study conducted by The 641 Group, the use of TAG Certified distribution channels for digital advertising reduced the level of fraud by more than 83% from the broader industry average. “Dealer.com is tackling this important issue head-on, and their leadership in fighting advertising fraud in the automotive industry is unrivaled,” said Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG.

"We are excited to welcome Dealer.com as the newest company to receive the TAG Certified Against Fraud Seal, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to promote brand safety by eliminating fraudulent digital advertising.”

In addition to earning the TAG certification, Dealer.com recently integrated with White Ops, the market leader in automated threat prevention. This partnership allows Dealer.com to send all programmatic advertising requests through White Ops' MediaGuard technology and, within milliseconds, be informed as to whether an impression is being served to a human. This assists Dealer.com with blocking programmatic advertising opportunities that originate from non-humans (i.e. bots), prior to serving the advertising impression.

About TAG

Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is a first-of-its-kind cross-industry accountability program to create transparency in the business relationships and transactions that undergird the digital ad industry while continuing to enable innovation. A joint marketing-media industry program, TAG was created with a focus on four core areas: eliminating fraudulent digital advertising traffic, combating malware, fighting ad-supported Internet piracy to promote brand integrity, and promoting brand safety through greater transparency.

About Dealer.com

Dealer.com provides an integrated platform of Advertising, Website and Managed Services products which allow OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology and data to better engage and connect with their customers. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of innovation, with a focus on health and wellness, making it one of the most desirable places to work, and a valuable partner for automotive retailers. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling and owning cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader^®, Dealer.com^®, Dealertrack^®, Kelley Blue Book^®, Manheim^®, NextGear Capital^®, VinSolutions^®, vAuto^® and Xtime^®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across 100+ countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

Media Contact

Pat Wentling | Account Director | MWWPR, 646.459.7000, 610.716.2309 (m), pwentling@mww.com¹ANA/WhiteOps. “The Bot Baseline: Fraud in Digital Advertising 2017 Report.” May 2017.