Integral Ad Science
Integral Ad Science (IAS) is an American publicly traded technology company that analyzes the value of digital advertising placements. Based in New York City, it has locations in Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, London, Paris, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Pune. It is known for addressing issues around fraud, viewability and brand risk, as well as TRAQ, a proprietary media quality score. In addition to evaluating the quality of online ad placements between media buyers and sellers, it creates products for agencies and marketers, programmatic players and media sellers. IAS is a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and works with the "Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy" initiative by the Trustworthy Accountability Group.
 | |
| Formerly | AdSafe Media |
|---|---|
Company type | Public |
| Nasdaq: IAS | |
| Industry | Ad technology |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Will Luttrell Helene Monat Foster Provost Bryan St. John Josh Attenberg Kent Wakeford |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Lisa Utzschneider (CEO) |
| Products | Marketer's Edge Trader's Edge Seller's Edge |
| Revenue | $408M ($50M as of January 2015 [1]) |
| Owner | NovaCap |
| Website | integralads.com |
Integral Ad Science (IAS) is an American publicly traded technology company that analyzes the value of digital advertising placements. Based in New York City, it has locations in Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, London, Paris, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Pune.[2][3]
It is known for addressing issues around fraud, viewability and brand risk, as well as TRAQ, a proprietary media quality score.[4][5][6] In addition to evaluating the quality of online ad placements between media buyers and sellers,[4][7] it creates products for agencies and marketers, programmatic players and media sellers.[8]
IAS is a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and works with the "Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy" initiative by the Trustworthy Accountability Group.[9][10]
History
[edit]The company was founded by Will Luttrell, Helene Monat, Foster Provost, Bryan St. John, Josh Attenberg and Kent Wakeford in 2009, with initial investment from Coriolis Ventures.
Initially known as an ad verification company called AdSafe Media, it secured over $7 million in Series B funding led by Accomplice a year after its founding.[11] In 2012, it raised an additional $10 million in funding from Pelion Venture Partners, Accomplice and Coriolis Ventures.[12][13]
In 2013, a year after being rebranded as Integral Ad Science and becoming a media valuation firm, it was recognized by Crain's New York Business as one of the Best Places to Work.[14] In January 2014, its ad verification technology was accredited by the Media Rating Council.[15][16]
After raising $30 million in a Series D funding round led by August Capital,[5][17] IAS has raised over $47 million in total funding.[6] In February 2014, a month before announcing international offices in Germany and Singapore,[18] it acquired Simplytics, a UK-based mobile advertising analytics company.[6]
In September 2014, IAS announced Causal Impact, a ROI measurement tool for online advertising.[19] Recognized on Crain's 2014 Fast 50 and Best Places to Work,[20][21] Integral was named by Forbes as one of America's Most Promising Companies of 2014,[1] as well as being ranked on the 2014 Inc. 5000 list.[22]
In early 2015, in addition to announcing its expansion to Sydney, Australia,[23] it had its video ad viewability technology was accredited by the Media Rating Council.[16][24] In February, a month before acquiring Veenome, a DC-based video advertising analytics company,[25] IAS opened its Anti-Fraud Lab for research and development of fraud detection and prevention in Seattle, Washington.[26][27]
In July 2016, Integral acquired Swarm Enterprises, a San Francisco-based bot detection company to bolster their advertising fraud detection product.[28] When its former CEO Scott Knoll moved to an advisory role,[29] Lisa Utzschneider was hired to fill the position at IAS.[30]
In June 2021, the firm held an initial public offering of stock and began trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol IAS.[31] In August, IAS acquired the CTV ad server platform Publica for $220M.[32]
On November 23, 2025, it was reported that the private equity firm NovaCap had completed the purchase of IAS, valued at $1.9 billion.[33]
TRAQ
[edit]TRue Advertising Quality, also known as TRAQ, is an ad quality scoring system created by Integral Ad Science. The system gives scores from 250 to 1,000, which buyers and sellers use to value media by assessing metrics including brand safety, ad fraud, page content and structure, time viewed, share of view, and ad clutter.[15][34]
Partnerships
[edit]Integral is partnered with multiple buyers and sellers, including agency holding groups and DSP's. Integral is partnered with Nielsen, which uses Integral's viewability measurement.[35] In August 2014, Integral partnered with TubeMogul for anti-fraud verification and viewability measurement.[36] In January 2015, MediaMath partnered with IAS to use Integral's pre-bid targeting tool, Bid Expert.[37] In June 2019, IAS announced it was partnering with Verizon and multiple connected TV (CTV) publishers, including NBC Universal and CBS Interactive, for a pilot verification program to tackle CTV ad fraud.[38]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "America's Most Promising Companies". Forbes. 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Salinger, Tobias (October 21, 2014). "Ad Tech Company Inks Big West Village Relocation". Commercial Observer. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Advertising tech firm expands to 25K sf in the Village". The Real Deal. October 20, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b Peterson, Tim (November 29, 2012). "AdSafe Rebrands as Integral Ad Science". Adweek. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b Ha, Anthony (January 2, 2014). "Integral Ad Science Raises $30M, August Capital-Led Round To Find High Quality Ad Impressions". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b c Kantrowitz, Alex (February 11, 2014). "Integral Ad Science Acquires Simplytics To Extend Anti-Fraud Capability To Mobile". Ad Age. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Joe, Ryan (August 8, 2014). "Fraud-day With Integral Ad Science: 'The Way The Industry Measures Performance Online Is Fundamentally Flawed'". Ad Exchanger. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science Granted a Patent for Ad Blocking". Market Wired. December 11, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Loechner, Tyler (February 10, 2015). "TAG Unveils Anti-Piracy Program At IAB Leadership Meeting". Real-Time Daily. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "IAB Associate Members". IAB. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Rao, Leena (July 6, 2010). "AdSafe Media Raises $7.25 Million For Brand Verification Platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (April 18, 2012). "AdSafe raises $10M to ensure that ads go on "safe" web pages". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "AdSafe Media Secures $10 Million in Funding Led by Pelion Venture Partners". MarketWired. April 18, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "No. 62 Integral Ad Science". Crain's New York Business. 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b "Integral is Accredited for Fighting Fraud". The Make Good. February 18, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b "MRC Accredited Services". Media Rating Council. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Griffith, Erin (January 2, 2014). "Integral Ad Science raises $30 million for ad policing". Pando Daily. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science Expands Internationally, Opening Offices in Germany and Singapore". Market Watch. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science Introduces Causal Impact, the Ad-Tech Industry's First Solution to Determine the Causal ROI of Online Display Campaigns". Market Watch. September 26, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "No. 7 Integral Ad Science". Crain's New York Business. 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Trager, Cara S. (October 1, 2014). "Crain's names 2014 Best Places to Work". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science". Inc. 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science Expands Global Presence". Scoop Media. February 3, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Loechner, Tyler (February 27, 2015). "Integral Receives MRC Accreditation For Video Ad Viewability". Real-Time Daily. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Liyakasa, Kelly (March 4, 2015). "Integral Ad Science Acquires Video Measurement Startup Veenome". Ad Exchanger. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Novak, Rebecca (February 18, 2015). "The Fight Against Fraud: Can Integral Ad Science's New Lab Help Detect Advertising Deceptions?". Native Mobile. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Integral Ad Science Opens New Lab to Help Combat Advertising Fraud". CSO. February 10, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (July 8, 2018). "Integral Ad Science acquires bot detection company Swarm". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
- ^ "Lisa Utzschneider Joins IAS as Chief Executive Officer". Integral Ad Science. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
- ^ "Lisa Utzschneider Joins IAS as Chief Executive Officer". Integral Ad Science. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
- ^ Rifilato, Tony (30 June 2021). "IAS Goes Public In Bid To Retain Competitive Edge". AdExchanger. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Bruell, Alexandra. "Integral Ad Science Buys Ad-Tech Company Publica for $220 Million". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ "IAS Announces Completion of Acquisition by Novacap". Integral Ad Science. Retrieved 2026-01-09.
- ^ Hof, Robert (January 29, 2014). "Digital Ad Fraud Is Improving - But Many Ads Still Aren't Seen By Real People". Forbes. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "Nielsen and Integral Ad Science Launch Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings Viewability Globally". Nielsen. March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "TubeMogul Enters Exclusive Partnership with Integral Ad Science For Independent Viewability and Fraud Verification". TubeMogul. August 20, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "MediaMath and Integral Ad Science Join Forces to Improve Advertising Performance and Drive Marketer ROI". PR Newswire. January 20, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ "IAS partners with Verizon and a host of publishers to tackle CTV ad fraud". The Drum. Retrieved 2020-03-06.