October 2025

• State of the Fight 2025 - RECAP!
• TAG in the News
• One More Thing

SPECIAL STATE-OF-THE-FIGHT RECAP EDITION!!

If you weren’t able to attend this year’s TAG State of the Fight in NYC earlier this month, get ready to turn your lamentations into celebrations, because we’ve got all of the highlights and key sessions right here in this month’s TAG Today!! 

Below you can watch Mike’s opening and Jules’ closing remarks and Todd’s After Party, as well as summaries of all the sessions. (TAG member companies can access the full videos of session panels one, two, and three and Mike’s fireside chat via the password-protected State of the Fight site.)

You can also catch the Highlights & Eureka Moment interviews with folks from BSI, ESA, Kroger Precision Marketing, IPG Mediabrands, MPA, Pixalate and more on TAG’s Youtube channel.

Kickoff: Welcome to State of the Fight with TAG's Mike Zaneis

Mike kicks off State of the Fight with a fast-paced overview of the state of digital advertising and adtech, recent industry milestones, and a clarion call for continued collaboration within the TAG Community to create a safer, stronger ecosystem. Both TAG members and non-members can catch all the feels here.

Session One: From Spoof to Proof: Solving for Device Attestation in CTV and Beyond with Amazon's Vinod Panicker & TAG's Todd Miller

Think your devices are what they say they are? Think again. Device spoofing is one of the biggest culprits behind invalid traffic—especially in CTV. In this session, Vinod and Tood break down the spoofing chaos and explore whether the unlikely duo of Open Measurement SDK and Privacy Pass Protocol can finally call bluff on fake devices. TAG members can bring your popcorn (and your paranoia) and watch the action here.

Session Two: SOS: Save Our Streams with TAG's Jules Kendrick, Magnite's Nick Frizzell, ESA's Catie Shawley and MPA's Stanzi Rowe

Pirates aren’t just stealing content; they’re stealing revenue, reach, and reputation. In this session, Jules, Nick, Catie, and Stanzi share a first-hand view on how IP rights holders are seeing the damage play out in real time and how anti-piracy initiatives -- like TAG’s Piracy Threat Exchange (PTX) -- are critical. TAG members can pull up a seat here.

Session Three: No Transparency: No SPO with TAG's Adrian Lacey, Jounce Media's Chris Kane, and Mobian's Chris Morgan

Think your supply path is working for you? Think again. TAG TrustNet and leading brands talk about how real transparency -- backed by log-level data -- can unlock true CPM, minimize risk, and drive smarter spend. TAG members can watch the full session on how supply path optimization actually delivers when the lights are on. 

Fireside Chat: State of the Industry with TAG's Mike Zaneis and Index Exchange's Andrew Casale

Andrew and Mike engage in a wide-ranging dialogue on the state of digital advertising, from the shifting landscape to the threats ahead, including brand safety, transparency, and the ongoing fight against fraud and malvertising. This fireside chat underscores the power of collaboration and the reasons taht communities like TAG are essential to protecting our industry’s future. TAG members can watch it here.

Session Four: This Isn't Hypothetical: David Was the Target

This time, it wasn’t theory; it was personal. In early 2025, TAG’s VP Threat Intel, David Lu, had his browser hit by a live malvertising attack. In this session, David Lu discussed the attack and its implications with Amazon’s Bhargava Cherukupally and a representative from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre. Panelists analyzed what happened in the attack, how the Malvertizing Threat Exchange (MTX) is chasing the bad actors behind it, and why real-world attacks demand smarter tracking, faster sharing, and stronger defenses. [NO VIDEO OF SESSION AVAILABLE]

Session Five: The Blocklist Horror Show

Once a staple of brand safety strategies, keyword blocklists are now under the spotlight, and it’s not a flattering close-up. In this session, TAG’s Rachel Nyswander Thomas joins AJ Brown of the Brand Safety Institute, Dave Byrne of IPG Mediabrands,and Shannon Hartman of Kroger Precision Marketing to dive into the messy reality of blocklist overreach, including the ways their misuse is tanking quality content, defunding trusted publishers, and creating massive blind spots in media plans. Panelists looked to the future and how the industry is shifting its taste for blocklists into smarter, more effective solutions. [NO VIDEO OF SESSION AVAILABLE]

The Last Word: TAG’s Jules Kendrick Puts a Bow on the Day’s Events

TAG members and non-members can watch it here!

Last But Not Least: Todd's After Party with TAG's Todd Miller & V Goff-Yu!

It wouldn't be State of the Fight without Todd's After Party! TAG members and non-members can watch the latest updates to TAG's program guidelines, tools, and community activities! Enjoy!

From “Borrowed Playbooks: How Other Industries Can Help Music Tackle Fraud” in Trolly.com:

In digital advertising, click fraud and other schemes constitute a multi-billion-dollar problem. … Ad networks have fought back by having platforms pool intelligence and align on standards so multiple companies can detect the same bad actors. 

A leading example is the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), a global initiative dedicated to fighting fraud and promoting transparency in digital advertising. TAG takes a collaborative, industry‑wide approach, helping companies stay ahead of emerging threats and maintain the integrity of the ecosystem.

The results are telling. TAG reports that Certified Against Fraud (CAF) channels maintained invalid traffic rates of less than 1% globally in 2024. It also launched a Pirate Domain Exclusion List to help advertisers avoid placing ads on pirate sites, and its Data Center IP List flagged more than 104 million high‑risk IP addresses in a single year. 

These kinds of shared signals—suspicious IP ranges, device fingerprints, unusual traffic patterns, and more—become far more powerful when pooled across companies.

Keep Up-To-Date With The Working Group Brief

TAG's working groups are a crucial source point of conversation and collaboration for digital advertising. Make sure you stay up to date with the latest progress and developments with the Workin Group Brief. 

Read the latest Working Group Brief 👉 tagtoday.net/working-groups

Leverage TAG Research into Your Everyday!

From APAC Fraud Snapshot reports, to UK Brand Safety Consumer reports, to Best Practices whitepapers, TAG's research is here to support our member's day-to-day compliance as well as strategic planning. 

Visit our Data and Insight page 👉 tagtoday.net/insights

Let's Make Some Noise Together 🤝

We love it when TAG members highlight our work together to fight digital ad crime and improve transparency. Please send any TAG-related press releases, blogs, or other announcements to Andrew Weinstein at andrewwstn@gmail.com for review before release.