To build solid relationships, focus on these 3 tenets of trust | Sponsored Content

Trust isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have for creating strong relationships—including the relationships forged between the tech industry and consumers.

Yet, it seems like we’re all operating in a trust vacuum. From issues surrounding data privacy to tech leaders turning their backs to their negative impact on social well-being to the reliance on AI to mitigate hate speech and problematic content, trust in our industry seems to have hit a new low.

Ironically, trust has never been more essential to the adtech space. It’s equally important to all constituents, from publishers to advertisers to consumers. Yahoo research firmly establishes that consumers value trust most when consuming premium digital content. In a May 2021 survey from Yahoo that looked at the most important qualities when consuming premium content, trust ranked higher among consumers at 61% than factors like ease of use (43%) and original content (31%).

We heard a similar story when we surveyed advertisers. In a recent study conducted with Advertiser Perceptions, trust ranked highly.

Ultimately, the ad tech industry is about results, and trust delivers results. Compared to other types of sites, premium publishers are at least three times more effective in driving mid-funnel brand lift metrics, such as favorability, consideration, and intent to recommend, Comscore research shows.

We understand trust can be a fuzzy concept. To help you get a better understanding of trust, we’ve developed a digital trust experience. From our research, trust comes down to three central tenets:

1. Are we building trust with our viewers and readers? Ultimately, readers and viewers are our end consumers. Delivering quality content, ensuring a positive ad experience, and respecting their privacy choices pay major dividends in our quest to earn consumer trust.
2. Are we enabling trust with our partners by giving them the information they need? As many of our partners call out, technology is essential, but so too are strong relationships. Supporting transparency efforts like Content Object, SupplyChain Object, and Sellers.json helps ensure we’re providing information our partners need. It also increases the likelihood that we’re speaking the same language and can work together to find solutions to challenges.
3. Are we providing a transactional environment where our buyers feel safe? As silly as it might sound, brand safety and suitability equate to that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you’re comfortable. While brand safety draws a solid line between what’s acceptable and what’s not, brand suitability focuses not just on what to avoid, but what could be a good fit and can amplify halo effects for your brand. Minimizing fraud is an equally crucial component to ensuring safety for advertisers and consumers.

Yes, we have always known that trust is important. But our research has helped us identify what we need to prioritize, how we should work with partners to build on strengths, and where we can improve. To learn more about these elements of trust and read our partners’ perspectives, check out our digital trust experience. Trust us, you’ll find it valuable.

—Patrick McCormack, VP, Global Partnerships, Yahoo