DoubleVerify has announced it is deepening its commitment to keeping digital advertising free from exploitative and illegal content through a new partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
The IWF operates globally to combat the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) through the detection and identification of criminal imagery online and ensuring its removal. DV’s partnership with IWF aligns with its broader industry efforts to prevent advertising budgets from inadvertently being funnelled to illicit content.
“Given its role in the digital advertising ecosystem, DoubleVerify will help lead the way in how adtech companies can help prevent the monetisation of CSAM,” said Derek Ray-Hill, CEO of IWF. “This partnership enables us to move faster and further together in the fight to protect children online by scaling efforts to shut down monetisation pathways for this harmful content”.
“The fight against illegal and harmful content online requires not just talk, but ongoing, collective action,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “By working together across advertisers, adtech platforms, publishers, law enforcement, and third-party experts, we can make a meaningful impact in keeping digital advertising safe, responsible, and free from the monetisation of harmful content. We will continue this important work, as illegal content online is a constantly evolving security challenge.”
DV introduced several initiatives earlier this year to support the demonetisation of ad-supported CSAM across the open web and has continued to focus on the issue, making the following progress:
- Implemented P2P Sharing and Streaming Avoidance Category: DV launched a dedicated “P2P Sharing and Streaming” avoidance category that allows brands to block ads from appearing on peer-to-peer sharing and streaming sites and apps, which can be exploited to host illegal or exploitative material. This category supports pre-bid blocking and post-bid monitoring across open web and mobile app inventory, and is enabled by default.
- Expanded Distribution of “Highly Illicit: Do Not Monetise” Content Category: This new safeguard helps advertisers avoid domains flagged by trusted third-party organisations, such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), as potentially containing or facilitating CSAM or other illegal content. It complements DV’s existing protection tools and is also enabled by default. Importantly, this category is made available without charge to all platforms, regardless of whether they are DV clients, with nearly 30 platforms having implemented this content category control to date. The “Highly Illicit: Do Not Monetise” category is dynamic and informed by the insights from third-party experts, industry collaboration, and law enforcement guidance.
Now, DV is expanding these efforts through a formal partnership with the IWF, Europe’s biggest hotline dedicated to identifying and removing child sexual abuse imagery from the internet. In 2024, the IWF detected more webpages containing such content than in any previous year in its 29-year history. As part of the collaboration, DV will begin incorporating the IWF’s URL List, a comprehensive index of known CSAM-hosting webpages, into its “Highly Illicit: Do Not Monetise” content category.
Looking ahead, DV and IWF plan to further strengthen detection and reporting of potential CSAM. DV will contribute by flagging any potentially harmful content not yet identified by IWF, enabling swift verification, law enforcement referral in the U.S. and globally, and takedown where applicable. IWF partners closely on reporting and removal with organisations globally, including NCMEC in the U.S., as well as their counterparts across Europe and Africa.
DV’s efforts reflect its broader commitment to creating a safer digital environment, particularly for children. As momentum builds around industry and legislative efforts to further protect young users online, DV is taking proactive steps to ensure that advertising does not support harmful or exploitative content. The company’s collaboration with IWF and expansion of the data supporting its “Do Not Monetise” category are part of a larger push to build a more responsible media ecosystem—one grounded in safety, transparency, and accountability.
DV is also engaging with leading third-party technology partners to enhance its capabilities in automating the detection of suspected illicit content as part of its classification process, further strengthening its commitment to protecting customers from the inadvertent monetisation of such material.
