BI.Garage and the “Content Media Consortium” Announced “Quality Media Declaration”

– The “Content Media Consortium,” which is jointly run by BI.Garage and 30 leading media companies have changed their name to the “Quality Media Consortium” and will focus on improving the quality of digital advertising in Japan.

– As a guideline for its activities, the Consortium has announced the “Quality Media Declaration.”

Digital advertising has grown to become the No. 1 advertising medium, but the reality is that its credibility has severely declined. The number of issues such as ad fraud (robots clicking on ads), brand safety (ads placed on risky sites), stealth advertising (illegal ad expressions), and fake sites (called “MFA” are rapidly increasing in the US and Europe) that use generative AI for ad fraud, are increasing. In the digital advertising market, which is expected to experience further disruption, the Consortium will strengthen the provision of the highest quality advertising as the only private marketplace (ad-serving network) that can pursue original content, the quality of the media in which the ads are placed, and the quality of the ads that are placed.

BI.Garage, Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President: Kaoru Hayashi; henceforth BI.Garage), which develops contextual advertising and is a subsidiary of Digital Garage, Inc. (TSE Prime section: 4819; HQ: Tokyo; Representative Director, President Executive Officer, and Group CEO: Kaoru Hayashi; DG), established the “Content Media Consortium” in 2019 with media companies’ major article content holders in Japan and is developing a high-value-added advertising business unique to premium content media^*1.

It is the only digital advertising network in Japan that is the first to implement and publicize a third-party (Video Research Ltd.) verification system for the content and advertising checking systems of participating companies, and that has two levels of external verification of the reliability of its overall advertising service and discloses the media on which advertisements are placed by promptly joining JICDAQ (Japan Joint Industry Committee for Digital Advertising Quality＆Qualify), a certification organization for advertising quality.

In 2021, through a capital and business alliance^*2 with 1plusX, a leading European data platform, the Consortium will develop and provide “contextual advertising” that captures users’ interests even in a cookie-less environment by analyzing and utilizing the context of articles posted by participating companies and delivering advertisements that match the context of the articles. Unlike some kinds of targeted ads, which use user data to track users, the Consortium achieves a high-quality ad placement environment that prioritizes user receptivity to ads.

The ads distributed in this way have achieved outstanding results and proved the quality, with the “average time spent,” “completion rate,” and “no return rate” of LPs (product description sites) in a product campaign conducted with a brand advertiser in the summer of 2023 significantly outperforming other types of advertising, including platform media advertising. The participating media offer high-quality content and a collection of users who prefer to gather information carefully, and thus attract attention as a next-generation type of advertisement.

In addition, the Consortium is working with TripleLift, a top-tier ad-tech company in the U.S., with which the Consortium formed a capital alliance, to develop a new expressive advertising model and will soon begin offering advertising products with even higher advertising effectiveness and user acceptability.

The “Quality Media Declaration” announced this time embeds the concepts of “media quality” and “ad quality” in the current digital advertising market in Japan, where advertisers are concerned about the lack of reliability of media-carrying ads, which is causing users to avoid digital advertising. These action guidelines aim to increase the acceptability of digital advertising by resolving advertisers’ anxiety about placing digital ads and users’ dissatisfaction with the imposition of digital advertising.

With the addition of “TBS NEWS DIG Powered by JNN” from TBS and “47NEWS” from Kyodo News, which unifies news from 52 newspapers nationwide, the number of quality article contents to which ads are distributed has increased significantly^*3.

BI.Garage’s capital and business partners, two Dentsu Group companies, two Hakuhodo DY Group companies^*4, and ADK Marketing Solutions, will work with the 30 participating media companies to accelerate the expansion of the business of “Content Media Consortium.”

■Companies participating in the “Content Media Consortium”（no particular order）
TOYO KEIZAI INC. The Asahi Shimbun Company
THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN Nikkei Inc.
THE NISHINIPPON SHIMBUN CO., LTD. Kodansha Ltd.
SHUEISHA Inc. The Mainichi Newspapers Co.,Ltd
SANKEI DIGITAL Inc. The Hokkaido Shimbun Press
THE CHUNICHI-SHIMBUN Jiji Press, Ltd.
DIAMOND,Inc. PRESIDENT Inc.
linkties co.,ltd. Impress Corporation
The Orangepage Inc. Kobunsha Co., Ltd.
BUNGEISHUNJU LTD. Japan Business Press Co., Ltd.
Mediagene Inc. Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation
J-WAVE,INC. SHOGAKUKAN Inc.
MAGAZINE HOUSE CO.,LTD. CCC Media House Co., Ltd.
Fuji Television Network, Inc. TV TOKYO Communications Corporation
TOKYO BROADCASTING SYSTEM TELEVISION, INC. Kyodo News

*1 Related release: “28 Prominent Media Companies Establish the Content Media Consortium” (June 22, 2020)
*2 Related release: “Digital Garage Partners with 1plusX on Capital and Business Alliance, Powering Development of Post-cookie Advertising across Japan and Asia” (February 3, 2021)
*3 Related Press Release: “TBS and Kyodo News Join “Content Media Consortium” Operated by BI.Garage and 28 Leading Media Companies” (January 24, 2023)
*4 Related release: “BI.Garage which Develops “Contextual Advertisement” Forms Capital and Business Alliance with 2 Hakuhodo DY Group Companies” (June 27, 2022)