BAP Raises $9.5m for Behavioral Ad Self-Regulation

In the US, The Better Advertising Project (BAP) - formed by ad and marketing associations to help self-regulate behaviourally targeted advertising - has secured a $9.5m investment, earmarked for development of its Assurance Platform.

BAP's platform offers firms a standard way of providing evidence of their compliance with industry guidelines, while giving consumers more transparency into and control over how their information is used online. It was developed to enable advertisers to demonstrate to the Federal Trade Commission that they are capable of self-regulating the use of behaviourally targeted advertising, and protecting consumer privacy.

Additionally, in partnership with the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), BAP has developed a program which enables participating advertisers to voluntarily display an icon - a stylised letter 'i' - alongside their ads. This indicates that companies use online behavioral advertising and adhere to the DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles.

The organization is sponsored and partly funded by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

This latest funding was led by Warburg Pincus, with every member of BAP's management team also participating in the investment round. As well as continuing to scale its Assurance Platform, the firm will use the funds to develop other programs for consumers, advertisers, publishers and solutions providers.

'We're honored to be at the forefront of this issue and to be working with so many committed and visionary industry leaders to make the initiative a reality,' states BAP founder and CEO Scott Meyer. 'This funding will enable us to work with even more companies in delivering on the promise of full industry implementation of the Self-Regulatory Principles and meaningful transparency in interactive media.'

Web site: www.betteradvertising.com .