MUMBAI: Global media investment management operation GroupM has developed and adopted a pioneering new digital media buying policy designed to prevent its clients’ ads from appearing on websites that distribute illegally obtained content.

The policy is designed to actively oppose online piracy in all its forms and to protect the copyright-protected, intellectual property of all content-producing companies.
 
The new policy includes anti-piracy language for insertion orders that prohibits vendors from placing GroupM clients’ advertising on sites that support piracy or contain any illegally distributed content. Effective immediately, the language will be built into all future contract terms and conditions with publishers and ad networks.

In conjunction with the new policy, GroupM has created a list of more than 2000 sites throughout the U.S. that have been identified as containing or supporting pirated content. The list will be updated on a continuing basis and a link to the list will be included in all contracts and insertion orders.
 
GroupM Interaction Global CEO Rob Norman said, “We’re serious about combating piracy and protecting our clients’ intellectual property as forcefully as we possibly can. This policy extends to digital media buyers at all GroupM agencies, as well as other WPP companies like Team Detroit, which manages Ford’s media business.”

GroupM serves as the parent company to WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare. GroupM’s content-producing clients have been asked to share their own lists of offending sites with GroupM in order to help keep the list current and all have agreed to do so.

“Pirate sites are known to ‘domain hop,’ so we need to keep on top of the latest list of identified offenders as best as we possibly can in order to enforce this new policy to its fullest effect,” explained Norman, who also is GroupM US CEO.