These programs allow a select number of third-party companies, those officially endorsed by the platform and often certified by the Media Ratings Council, to provide advertisers with greater peace of mind that they are getting what they pay for in an environment where accountability has historically been difficult.

But a long-standing assumption in digital advertising is coming under scrutiny: whether brands should pay third-party verification companies for viewability metrics within walled garden platforms. Zefr is now publicly challenging that assumption, and in a way that could put pressure on the long-standing pricing models of verification giants DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science.

Zefr CEO Rich Ladon recently told Digiday that the company, which has been certified for viewability on YouTube and is in the process of doing the same on other platforms on the internet, will soon expand to other platforms, starting with TikTok, and offer viewability as a free metric in its walled garden. The move stems from what Ladon said is a growing gap between how the market believes walled garden measurements work and how they actually work.

Zefr claims that within the walled garden, “viewability is primarily a pass-through metric,” meaning information is passed through the platform for free and cannot be measured directly, and that the company’s planned approach makes it unique in the market.

However, it is important to note the number of sources contacted for comment for this article, most of whom requested anonymity due to sensitivity to their responses to some of the internet’s largest platforms, but noted that this does not mean such programs are “unimportant, worthless, or independent.”

From here, most verification providers “charge the same amount for viewability in a walled garden as they would on the open web, even though the effort required is minimal,” according to Radon. He also argued that this was creating unnecessary and significant costs for advertisers. Given that such schemes have been in operation for nearly a decade, advertisers may have “spent tens of millions of dollars on pass-through metrics that should never have had a price tag in the first place.”

Digiday reached out to multiple parties for comment on the above claims, but DoubleVerify and IAS were unable to provide formal comment by press time. Similarly, YouTube’s press team did not respond on the record when asked how it promotes its verified partnership program, but a Meta spokesperson directed Digiday to a related help center page.

“Today is a wake-up call for the industry. Unlike the open web, walled gardens provided free viewability metrics to third-party measurement providers, who then applied some logic to that data and shipped it to the industry as a premium-priced product,” Ladon added. “Zefr is drawing a line in the sand by making viewability metrics free in a walled garden. A walled garden is not the same as the open web.”

long-standing blind spot

Zefr’s argument lands in a market that has historically looked at spending on the open web much more critically than spending on walled gardens.

“There are always questions about programmatic on the open web, but what many people don’t really know is what they’re paying for inside a walled garden,” said Ravi Patel, CEO of SWYM, adding that such environments need to be regularly scrutinized, especially since most marketers spend far more advertising budgets on them than on the open web. “I think there’s a certain element of complacency when it comes to ad operations and understanding what you’re actually buying that exists today.”

Meanwhile, ad tech expert and vocal critic of these large platforms, Joshua Colan, argued that the trend is likely to continue as buyers move toward trusting AI-driven platforms like Google’s P-MAX, where they “set a goal, press a button, and let a black box figure it out.”

But he cautioned that independent measurement remains essential to avoid significant wastage, adding that “fixes” are needed to provide independent measurement – third-party audits of event-level data as well as domain-level reporting.

Koran emphasized that viewability is “mainly an intermediate metric, as performance is already taken into account through real-time optimization.” He also expressed concern about the official measurement programs of large platforms like YouTube and Meta, noting that “without access to event-level data, third-party measurement providers can only report what the platforms tell them to do, but cannot independently verify this.”

MRC process

Radon also noted that Zephyr expects “MRC certification for content-level brand safety to be announced in mid-to-late January,” which will further strengthen the company’s position as an alternative to traditional verification companies. His comments come at a time when the MRC is rebuilding some of its measurement environment. Recent guidance distinguishes between “asset-level certification” and “content-level certification,” and the industry is grappling with platforms and vendors that “only provide asset-level validation rather than actual content-level analysis.”

Meta’s decision to withdraw from first-party MRC brand safety audits and instead rely on third-party measurement providers to provide brands with insights into media buying adds a new layer of tension.

Challenge to the market

Zefr’s chief executive also urged brands to check what they are paying for rather than “blindly trusting third-party providers”, a message that appears to be gaining traction among those on the buy side of the market.

Rachel Mervis, a brand-side marketer with extensive experience in ad tech, particularly with verification companies, explained to Digiday the data transparency concerns that many advertisers have about these programs, adding that while many platforms host platforms to hear marketers’ concerns (as do major verification providers), concerns remain. “I remember there were limitations that were frustrating,” she said. “I remember components because I wanted to see a particular component or drill down further. [of the measurement programs] To be broad and finite. ”

It remains to be seen whether the industry will absorb this change quickly or whether traditional players will rebound with a counterframe. But Ladon believes this moment represents a necessary reset. He argues that “walled gardens are not the same as the open web” and that brands should no longer pay for metrics that occur within the platform itself.

what we heard

“Yesterday, I heard that Omnicom is letting go of some customers if they don’t make enough money. However, this is just a rumor. ”

—OmnicomIPGmerger subreddit has been heavily read in the last week

Numbers you need to know

• 46%: Number of marketers planning to increase their media budgets in 2026, according to Ebiquity.

• 54%: Inflation concerns and economic pressures are influencing decision-making by a number of marketers who do not plan.

• 66%: How many advertising leaders are looking to further integrate media and creative departments, according to a survey of 518 marketers.

• 67%: Number of marketers planning to increase spending on online video, making it the highest growth channel for ad spend.

What we covered

Trade desk loosens pricing controls under pressure from buyers

Demand-side platforms built their businesses on firm pricing, but now, under pressure from one of the advertising industry’s most aggressive forces, they are beginning to shift their incentives.

OpenX redraws the relationship between SSP and agencies

Supply-side platforms lean toward building direct relationships with publishers, which (seemingly) benefits publishers as well.

what we are reading

Omnicom CEO dashes plans to beat rivals in AI after blockbuster $9 billion IPG deal with advertising giant

• Omnicom executives shared why Omnicom customers and staff feel elated by closing deals and how the ad group’s AI strategy differs from its competitors. This was the same day the company announced that 4,000 people would lose their jobs as a result of the merger.

Google ad buyers are (and still are) being fooled by sophisticated account takeover scams

• Agency buyers who manage portfolios of Google Ads and Merchant Center accounts are being targeted by sophisticated fraudsters who take over these accounts, siphon customer funds, and lock out administrators, sometimes for weeks or even months.

New ChatGPT code points to early advertising framework within OpenAI

• ChatGPT Android beta code reveals potential advertising module that could appear alongside search or shopping queries

Ad tech company Teads to cut staff

• A Teads spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the company has laid off “less than 10%” of its 1,800 employees.