DoubleVerify apologises for wrong display of X’s Brand Safety Rate

Delhi: DoubleVerify, which offers brand-safety measurement ratings for digital platforms to major advertisers, acknowledged that it had been incorrectly displaying X's Brand Safety Rate — a measure of how often ads appeared next to content that met advertiser-approved criteria — on its dashboard for nearly five months.

Media reports stated that between October 24, 2023, and March 14, 2024, DoubleVerify's dashboard showed incorrect data to advertisers regarding X. In some instances, the measurement firm indicated scores as low as 70%, though X's Brand Safety Rates were actually 99.99%. DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski apologised to customers on April 12 for the error and confirmed that the company's dashboard now accurately reflects X's brand-safety rates.

"The underlying data in DV Pinnacle was correct; only the graphical representation was misleading regarding the Brand Safety Rate," DoubleVerify stated.

"We apologise for any confusion this may have caused to X and our customers as they reviewed campaign performance on X," Zagorski told customers in a message.

DoubleVerify is reviewing its processes and systems to prevent similar issues in the future, according to Zagorski.

"X remains committed to providing a safe and transparent platform for our valued advertisers and users," the X Business account posted on Friday. "We are very concerned about this significant misrepresentation of our Brand Safety performance and have promptly addressed the situation with DoubleVerify."

Elon Musk, owner of X, thanked DoubleVerify for correcting the mistake and noted that when measured correctly, brand safety on X is excellent.

DoubleVerify's reporting error prompted dozens of large brands to reduce advertising and halt campaigns on X, according to the social media company.

Media reports noted that the DoubleVerify dashboard erroneously indicated a Molson Coors campaign had a brand-suitability rate in the mid-90s, though the actual rate was 99.99%. Account teams at Publicis Spark discovered the incorrect metric and expressed hesitation about partnering with X, said Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X.

Media reports also remarked that the display error was limited to the graphical representation and did not affect other areas of the UI, such as Incident Reporting and Rollover Data Detail.