Independent ad tech company AppNexus, and its partners have announced a certified supply program that will classify online advertising inventory and guarantee that it is “fraud-free” for buyers.

The launch of this program will mark the first time that industry leaders have come together to create a standard for identifying the safest and most trusted inventory on the Internet, and provide buyers with financial guarantees that the inventory they are purchasing is valid.

“Our mission at AppNexus is to create a better Internet, and helping to forge a responsible online advertising ecosystem is a fundamental part of that undertaking,” said Brian O’Kelley, CEO and co-founder of AppNexus.

“We’ve invested heavily in quality initiatives and the introduction of an open certified supply program to create the most trusted supply on the Internet is a major leap in the right direction. Buyers should be informed about what they’re purchasing, and if they’re getting fraudulent inventory, or invalid supply, they shouldn’t have to pay for it. Over time, we believe a clear and collaborative approach by industry leaders will discourage invalid supply altogether.”

The certified supply program will examine inventory supply initially using AppNexus’ proprietary technology and ultimately DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science’s independent third-party verification technology.

Inventory that is found to be correctly represented and verifiable, with no non-human traffic, will be denoted with the “Certified Supply” label. Once the certified supply program enters into its general release phase in Q2 2015, if fraudulent or mislabeled invalid inventory has been detected, the buyer will not pay for the purchased inventory. AppNexus, along with Microsoft, PubMatic, Xaxis, and many other large sellers, will apply this Certified Supply classification to their inventory, allowing buyers to purchase guaranteed, trusted supply at large scale.

“Xaxis has led programmatic media companies by rejecting all fraudulent or non-viewable inventory.  The AppNexus Certified Supply Program is consistent with our approach – ensuring expanded revenue for publishers and true performance for advertisers,” said Larry Allen, SVP business development at Xaxis.

“We believe eliminating fraud is one of the primary ways to elevate the conversation with buyers and commit more brand dollars to programmatic inventory.”

“We’re proud to partner with AppNexus on their newest initiative to build transparency and trust in the digital supply chain,” said Wayne Gattinella, CEO and president of DoubleVerify.