• by Larissa Faw , October 14, 2016

Horizon Media’s programmatic trading desk, HX, is partnering with independent programmatic intelligence company Ad/Fin to become the first programmatic trading desk to embrace independent, third-party verification of its programmatic transactions at the impression level. HX clients can now elect to receive third-party, independent verification of media costs, data costs and technology costs associated with each programmatic campaign.

Programmatic media does not have to be a "black box" and should be no different than any other advertising medium, the agency stated. In fact, given its data-driven foundation, programmatic has the capability of being among the most transparent forms of media as advertisers take greater control of the transactional data created in the buying process. 

This move is part of HX’s commitment to delivering on its so-called “Programmatic Advertiser’s Bill of Rights,” an articulation of 10 core principles that HX abides by for all campaigns. These principles include having an understanding of tech and service charges, viewing marketplace CPM’s (cost per thousand impressions) as they appear in auction data, and inventory transparency with CPMs by site. 

“We compete everyday with agencies and trading desks that claim transparency, but few, if any, can prove it," said Adam Heimlich, SVP, managing director, programmatic, HX, Horizon Media. "At Horizon, we stand by our commitment to accountability and see tools like Ad/Fin as key to practicing what we preach." 

Ad/Fin is the only auditing partner the agency is aware of that is prepared to conclusively verify the level of transparency HX provides, says Heimlich. "While anyone can claim fair dealings, it's a Big Data job to capture and report on bidstream data. It's only in the bidstream that auction closing CPMs appear without markups."

Horizon originally launched HX in 2014. The offering combines technology and service for buying across the programmatic spectrum, from premium to open exchange.