The cyber safety company has driven an enormous uptick in compliance, preventing ads from appearing on pirate sites whilst helping to put an end rogue affiliate marketing initiatives

IP protection and cyber safety company White Bullet has found that ad spend on pirate websites is almost four times lower in countries in which it operates versus unmonitored territories.

What’s more, across its top three gambling operator clients alone, its affiliate marketing compliance programmes – set up in response to overwhelming demand – have identified 163k instances of non-compliant affiliate marketing in the last 12 months alone. Any one of these instances could result in loss of operating license or penalties; with fines for misleading or non-compliant marketing as high as £300k.

Meanwhile, in countries in which White Bullet is monitoring clients’ activity, the vast majority – a whopping 98% – of all gambling ad spend on pirate websites is from non-client gambling operators.

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Filip Petru, White Bullet’s Director of Marketing compliance, explains: “Regulated industries with rigorous compliance requirements – such as gambling, finance and pharmaceuticals – encounter particularly significant risks when it comes to misplaced ads and rogue affiliates. Operators need full transparency to meet regulations and we are determined to provide all the necessary data to protect their businesses.

“Within our growing pool of gambling operator clients, for instance, we looked at the countries we monitor and those we don’t. We found that, of all ad spend on pirate websites, 22% is in monitored countries versus 78% in unmonitored countries – meaning almost four times less misdirected advertising in the countries we currently monitor.”

This means that, at a time when many advertisers still waste billions of dollars on IP-infringing sites hosting illegal and harmful content, White Bullet’s technology is helping clients to maximise safety and return on ad spend not only by identifying ads which appear on pirate sites, it is also highlighting rogue players within affiliate programmes; thereby avoiding costly fines and the removal of licenses.

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And, alongside a growing need for dynamic, real time compliance monitoring tools and technologies, Petru’s role has evolved in response to demand. He adds: “We are determined to provide transparency around the intermediary infrastructure that’s so critical for growing numbers of brands. Not only do we stop ads going to pirate sites, but clients are now coming for an additional level of protection in the affiliate marketplace. This is about making sure that the marketing and advertising is compliant in the first place – regardless of where it ends up.”

Peter Szyszko, CEO, White Bullet comments: “There is growing awareness among leading brands and advertisers of the need for innovative and technology-driven solutions to tackle illegal online activities. Our mission is a cleaner, safer, higher-performing media ecosystem and, with our growing team and market-leading platforms, tools and technologies, we continue to add more services to keep up with demand. We are delighted with the results these programmes are delivering for clients across the globe.”

White Bullet expanded its team earlier this year with the appointment of a number of anti-piracy and brand safety experts, following increased demand for its services globally. With more clients looking to partner with the cyber safety company across an ever increasing array of territories, White Bullet offers the transparency needed to stop ads being misplaced and to meet ad regulatory requirements in real time – monitoring all digital and connected ecosystems including web, mobile, OTT / CTV, search and social to detect and score instances of risk including piracy, sexually explicit and age inappropriate content. Meanwhile, it can also check the compliance of affiliate programmes, including outdated or incorrect promotions, unregulated or unlicensed products, click-through fraud and inactive links.

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