Forced redirects | What you need to know and how to be proactive

You’ve most likely heard about the influx of forced redirects that’s hit the industry, or ads that contain code to redirect a user to another page. Usually, this new page will have some sort of fake offer or is another malware ploy. So why exactly is this happening, and should you be concerned?For the same reason why most nefarious activity begins - it’s just another way for shady characters to make money. We’ve seen a lot of great in-depth coverage that you should read regarding the intricacies of forced redirects. In many cases users are not being injected with a threatening virus or malware but simply inconvenienced by being redirected away from the intended content they wanted to read. Good news for the user, but not a good look for you, the publisher.

Fret not esteemed publisher, we’re here to help

We pride ourselves with maintaining the creative quality and brand safety of our publishers' demand. While not a cut and dry issue, we’ve taken both a proactive and reactive approach to malvertising. Especially as “forced redirects” rear their ugly head.

How, you may ask?

First off, we have an operations team that’s both extremely adept at tracking logs from numerous ad screening vendors and agile at putting safeguards in place.

We take a three step approach to dealing with malware:

We leverage our SSP partners’ ad quality tools, which screen and operate on a 24/7, 365-day basis
We partner with a third-party vendor to scan all creatives before they hit our platform. If the creative does not pass a strict set of criteria, we block it from serving
We provide internal round-the-clock support if any of these systems should fail

So what can you do?

Join the tip line! Stay informed. We’ve put together an alert system that will warn you of any new malicious behavior that we’re seeing. We encourage you to sign up here. Help us remain vigilant! Have a tip? Please send any relevant logs or alerts to your account representative and pubsolutions[at]33across.com and the issue will be escalated immediately. Think of our team as your inventory’s neighborhood watch. Help us help you.

While bad actors will continue to evolve their approach, we will continue to partner proactively with our customers and the broader digital advertising community to maintain a safer ad environment. Again, please don't hesitate to contact us with questions, concerns, or reports of potentially malicious activity.

33Across Blog | Programmatic News & Trends