The recent crisis surrounding Google/YouTube's advertising practices underscores an urgent need for change in the digital advertising sector.

As mega-platforms continue to operate within opaque "walled gardens", advertisers are left in the dark, grappling with questionable metrics and data practices.

Here, we explore how blockchain technologies, with an emphasis on Adshares, can herald a new era of transparency and trust.

Understanding the Power of Web3:

1. Decentralization: Web3 technologies, which refer to a new paradigm for applications on the internet, promise decentralization. Unlike traditional systems, where a single entity holds control, decentralized platforms distribute authority across a network.

2. Immutable Records: Transactions on a blockchain are recorded chronologically and are unalterable. This ensures transparency as advertisers can verify each transaction's authenticity and accuracy.

3. Smart Contracts: Automate and self-execute terms of agreement. With smart contracts, advertisers and publishers can be sure that terms are automatically adhered to, ensuring fair play.

Adshares: A Beacon of Hope

Adshares, a pioneering blockchain-based ad platform, offers solutions that directly counteract the issues highlighted by the recent Adalytics report:

1. Transparent Ad Transactions: Leveraging blockchain technology, Adshares provides a transparent ledger of all ad transactions. Advertisers can see where their ads are placed, ensuring that they aren't unwittingly placed on inappropriate channels.

2. Eliminating Middlemen: Adshares connects advertisers and publishers directly, reducing the fees and potential markups typical of traditional ad networks.

3. Control Over Data: Advertisers and publishers retain control over their data, eliminating the risk of unwanted data collection or breaches. This directly addresses concerns about platforms imposing data collection violations.

4. Decentralized Governance: The decentralized nature of Adshares ensures that no single entity can manipulate metrics or impose unilateral decisions on the community.

Case Scenario:

NFTs and Blockchain: Ensuring Safe Advertising on Platforms like YouTube Kids

Verified Advertiser Token (VAT): The Preamble

One of the primary concerns of platforms like YouTube Kids is ensuring that advertisers abide by strict guidelines to maintain a safe environment for children. An NFT (Non-Fungible Token) based system can provide a solution:

1. Virtual Pledge/Code of Conduct: Advertisers aiming to showcase their content on children-centric platforms would be required to sign a virtual pledge or a code of conduct, demonstrating their commitment to maintaining the safety and relevance of their content for a younger audience.

2. Issuance of the Verified Advertiser Token (VAT): Upon agreement, they would be issued an NFT - the VAT. This NFT is a unique digital certificate authenticating the advertiser's commitment and adherence to the guidelines.

How it Works

1. Immutable Record: Once an advertiser has the VAT, it serves as an immutable record on the blockchain, ensuring that any advertiser with the token has undergone the requisite checks and agreed to the prescribed code of conduct.

2. Access Control: Platforms like YouTube Kids can integrate a system where ad placement requests are filtered based on the presence of the VAT. Only advertisers with this NFT can place their content on the platform, ensuring a first layer of security.

3. Auditing and Monitoring: The blockchain can also store records of all ad campaigns run by these verified advertisers. This ensures transparency and allows for easy audits, ensuring continuous compliance with the guidelines.

4. Immediate Revocation: If any advertiser breaches the code of conduct, the VAT can be revoked. The decentralized nature of blockchain ensures this action is transparent, and the community can be immediately made aware of non-compliant advertisers.

5. Secondary Marketplace for VAT: To further ensure safety, the buying/selling or trading of the VAT in secondary markets can be prohibited. This would ensure that only advertisers who have directly complied with platform guidelines can access the token and subsequently advertise on the platform.

Benefits

1. Enhanced Trust: Parents and guardians can trust the platform more, knowing there's an added layer of security ensuring their children are exposed only to verified and safe content.

2. Transparency: Blockchain's transparent nature ensures all stakeholders can audit and verify the actions of advertisers, building a more open ecosystem.

3. Reduced Manual Oversight: The token-based system automates the first layer of verification, reducing the need for continuous manual checks.

Conclusion

The integration of NFTs and blockchain technology into digital advertising platforms, especially those catering to sensitive demographics, can revolutionize content verification and trust. By tokenizing advertiser commitments and creating a tangible, transparent system of checks and balances, platforms like YouTube Kids can usher in a safer, more reliable era of content for their youngest users.

Incorporating such a system would need collaboration between blockchain experts and platform developers, but the potential benefits in terms of safety, transparency, and trust are monumental.

The Future with Web3 and Adshares

1. Universal Standards: With platforms like Adshares, the industry could move towards universally accepted standards for transparency, comparable to TV's enduring metrics.

2. Building Trust: Blockchain's inherent transparency can help rebuild trust between advertisers, publishers, and platforms, which has been eroded by repeated scandals.

3. Enhanced Accountability: Platforms would be accountable not just to advertisers but to the entire community, including users. This collective governance ensures a more balanced digital ad ecosystem.

Conclusion

In light of the recent challenges faced by mega ad platforms, blockchain solutions like Adshares present an innovative solution. As the world pivots towards decentralized systems, advertisers need not wait for another scandal to seek better alternatives. With Web3 and Adshares, a transparent, equitable, and efficient advertising future awaits.

If you'd like to learn more about ADSARES technology, solutions, or request a proposal, please contact our representatives