Goafest 2025: Without real views, digital advertising loses its business impact, Tejas Apte

Time of India

24-05-2025

HighlightsTejas Apte, head of media and digital marketing at Hindustan Unilever, emphasized the urgent need for a trustworthy media ecosystem to combat the pervasive issue of fake impressions and fraudulent practices in digital advertising. The Indian Society of Advertisers launched the Media Charter, which focuses on four key pillars: Brand Safety, Viewability, Fraud Prevention, and the Ethical Use of First-Party Data, to address challenges in the digital advertising landscape. Apte highlighted the critical role of long-term partnerships with agencies, such as GroupM, in driving innovation and success within Hindustan Unilever, while acknowledging the impact of automation and in-housing agency functions.
Tejas Apte
, head of media and digital marketing at
Hindustan Unilever
(HUL) and chair of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA)'s Media forum, emphasised the critical need for a more robust and trustworthy media ecosystem, particularly in the digital realm. Speaking at
Goafest 2025
on day 3, Apte highlighted that the pervasive issue of "fakes" – fake views, fake news, and fraudulent impressions – poses a significant threat to business effectiveness and the long-term health of the
digital advertising
industry.
Apte articulated that the primary concern stemming from these "fakes" is the diminished effectiveness of advertising campaigns. He also shared that up to 30 percent of digital impressions may be fake or non-human, leading to major business inefficiencies.
"The real loss here is that you invested a certain amount in the media. In the old days of television and print, the ad would physically appear in front of a real consumer. Today, with digital advertising, there's no guarantee the ad actually reaches a real person. If it doesn't, it can't have a tangible impact on the business. Ultimately, it's the digital ecosystem that suffers."
He further pointed out that the predominantly ad-funded nature of digital media, in contrast to the more balanced subscription and advertising models of legacy mediums, makes it imperative to ensure
brand safety
and eliminate fraudulent impressions. "If all of your digital is going to be advertising driven, then making it safe for consumers, getting rid of any and every fake impression of a consumer is essential for the health of digital as a medium," Apte asserted.
To address these pressing challenges, the ISA, in collaboration with various industry stakeholders, launched the Media Charter, built on four key pillars. The first is Brand Safety, which ensures that advertisements appear alongside content that is safe for both consumers and brands. The second is Viewability, aimed at guaranteeing that ad impressions are genuinely seen by consumers and not lost to hidden placements or fraud. Fraud Prevention forms the third pillar, targeting deceptive practices such as "ad buffering" that artificially inflate impression counts. Lastly, the charter emphasises the Ethical Use of First-Party Data, advocating for transparent, consent-driven collection and responsible utilization of consumer data.
Apte also acknowledged the ongoing work on a fifth pillar: cross-media measurement, recognising the evolving landscape where TV and digital increasingly coexist.
A significant aspect of the
ISA Media Charter
's success, according to Apte, lies in its collaborative development. The playbooks accompanying the charter were co-created with major players like Google, Meta, DoubleVerify, and others, fostering a shared understanding of industry standards and advertiser expectations. This collaboration helps bridge the gap between input metrics provided by platforms and the business outcomes advertisers seek.
Regarding the evolving relationship between advertisers and agencies, Apte underscored the critical role of agencies in HUL's success. He shared an example of GroupM and HUL which has been working for around 28 years. He emphasised the importance of long-term partnerships built on trust and the ability to constructively challenge agencies to innovate. "The service which is offered right now may not hold six months, two years, five years down the line," he remarked, referring to the impact of automation and AI.
On the growing trend of in-housing agency functions, Apte acknowledged different degrees of implementation across clients. He highlighted the upsides, including easier data flow, improved business decision-making, and greater control over automated work. However, he maintained that core creative ideas and strategic media planning brilliance will continue to reside with agencies. "The big creative idea will still come from the creative person. The right inputs on the media plan will also come from the media planner."
Apte also addressed the raids conducted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in March on several media agencies and industry bodies, including the ISA. While avoiding speculation due to the ongoing nature of the investigation and the lack of public information about its origins, he noted, 'Nobody knows what triggered it or what exactly is being investigated. There's still nothing in the public domain that clarifies the reasons behind the raids or the direction of the investigation.'
Measuring the success of the ISA Media Charter, Apte stated, will involve observing a decline in overall ad fraud and an increase in brand safety across the industry, particularly among smaller advertisers. He also expressed optimism for progress on cross-media measurement in the near future.
Within HUL, Apte noted that the co-creation process of the charter led to the discovery of new partners and ideas, particularly in areas like brand safety and ethical first-party data collection, ultimately contributing to improved media quality for the organization.