The Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) has recently announced in a press release that it is in the process of launching an ad blockchain to help address the problem of advertisement fraud that is affecting the advertising industry. ANTO has claimed that it will be making history with its distributed ledger solution since this will be the first time an organization will fully operate a blockchain powered digital advertisement campaign specifically designed to reduce fraud and excessive costs.
To bring its ideas to fruition, ANTO has teamed up with Adbank – an online advertisement platform built on the Ethereum blockchain and will leverage its native cryptocurrency – the ADB token to help curb fraud and mitigate costly advertisement fees by ad tech middlemen and curb ad fraud. Fraudulent representation and invalid traffic have proliferated across the cyberspace; ad fraud is on the rise and is reportedly costing genuine advertisers $51 million per day, bringing the figure to an astonishing $18.6 billion in 2018 alone.
Ad Fraud Prevention Blockchain Solution
Adbank is a startup based in Canada, which seeks to provide solutions to the world’s advertisement fraud conundrum. Adbank combines artificial intelligence with blockchain technology to help distinguish between bots from real humans. It also employs a blockchain payment protocol which will help the platform provide transparency between publishers and advertisers. However, Adbank anti-fraud artificial intelligence patent is still pending confirmation.
ANTO Blockchain Ad Campaign
By working with Adbank, ANTO blockchain ad campaign will bring some level of transparency and traceability to the advertisement industry which will promote trust within the system and allow both publishers and advertisers to track their money efficiently. Angelo Dodaro, Adbank CMO and Co-Founder expressed optimism about the project development and was excited about Austria’s interest in this blockchain use case since ad fraud prevention using blockchain is not one of the popular applications of the technology. ANTO’s campaign is expected to help reduce pricey fees imposed by tech middlemen who can charge fees up to 70%.
Speaking on the project, Michael Scheuch, Head of Brand Management for ANTO had this to say:
“In the pilot with Adbank, one of the more interesting blockchain applications in the advertising sector, we hope to overcome on a global scale various difficulties within classic online advertising.”
The press release also highlighted that the Austrian tourism authority also partnered with Red Bull Media House. Red Bull Media House will be an active participant in the project by providing inventory on the side of the publisher through its Alpine lifestyle publication Bergwelten. This partnership was formed after Red Bull visited the headquarters of Adbank in Salzburg, Austria.
Why ANTO Blockchain Ad Campaign is Important
Advertisement fraud is quite prevalent in today’s digital world; some experts have even called this illegal activity the “biggest threat to the internet economy”. With 56% of all website traffic being driven by non-human traffic and bots coupled with intermediary fees, advertisers are always getting the short end of the stick. ANTO seeks to utilize blockchain to put an end to these markups charges and ad fraud once and for all.
Kelsy Cole, Adbank CSO, and Co-founder summarized the problem and ANTO’s digital ad campaign in a statement. According to her:
“Markups and ad fraud cost the tourism industry billions per year, and there is little to no accountability with the current advertising ecosystem, ANTO will be the first of many travel-focused partners to mark the beginning of an era where the advertiser has the control they deserve using Adbank’s technology.”
The advertising industry is one area where blockchain technology can help reduce fraud. The distributed ledger technology is also being tested in other sectors including the automotive industry to reduce odometer fraud and accounting to ensure the authenticity of transactions being recorded in a company’s books.
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