Brand Safety Institute

What Brand Safety Institute does

Brand Safety Institute (BSI) is a Washington, DC-based professional organization founded in 2018 that operates as the advertising industry's community of practice for brand and people safety across digital media. BSI monetizes through a hybrid model combining individual practitioner certifications (Brand Safety Officer, Brand Safety Bootcamp), company-level credentials (Brand Safety Business Partner, Brand Safe Workforce), tiered membership, and paid educational content delivered via the learning.brandsafetyinstitute.com platform. Its product portfolio also includes the Publisher Quality Utility — a free tool that aggregates third-party verification signals (Compliant Data Integrity Index, Jounce Media scoring, MFA blocklists) to give publishers visibility into how advertisers rate their inventory — alongside the Defend & Deliver Podcast, Knowledge Centers covering AI/DEI/news, the Marketer's Guide to Platforms, and the Marketer's Guide to the Open Web.

BSI serves a constituency spanning enterprise advertisers (AIG, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Kroger, Lufthansa, Merck), agencies (GroupM, Horizon Media, Universal McCann, Sightly), platforms (Meta, TikTok, Oracle Advertising, Pandora, Verizon Media, NBCUniversal, Publishers Clearing House), ad tech providers (GumGum, OpenX), and professional services firms (KPMG). Its go-to-market is community-led: practitioners and brands are pulled in through thought leadership, peer communities (Marketer Roundtable, Publisher Council), and research collaborations such as the 2022 TAG/BSI Consumer Brand Safety Survey and the TikTok co-produced Creator Suitability Report. The organization operates with 1–10 employees, is privately held with no disclosed outside funding, and positions itself as an independent educator and standards-body adjacent to industry groups like GARM, TAG, and the Online Responsibility Network.

Technically, BSI is a content-and-credentialing platform rather than a software company; its proprietary technology footprint is modest, centered on the Publisher Quality Utility integration layer, with no disclosed AI/ML model development, no APIs, no mobile apps, and no patents. The company is governed by an Advisory Board that includes TrustRaise founder Dave Byrne, and is led operationally by COO AJ Brown and co-founder Neal Thurman (alongside co-founder Mike Zaneis per the leadership appendix). Pricing for membership and certification tiers is not publicly disclosed, and revenue figures are not reported.

Name

Brand Safety Institute

Legal name

Brand Safety Institute

Website

https://brandsafetyinstitute.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brand Safety Institute is the digital advertising industry's professional community of practice for brand and people safety, offering certifications (Brand Safety Officer, Business Partner, Workforce, Bootcamp), the free Publisher Quality Utility tool, and thought leadership to advertisers, agencies, platforms, and publishers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Certification and Training

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Advertising & Brand Safety (Ad Review, Policy Enforcement) (BPAAALAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Measurement, Attribution & Brand Safety (Fraud/Compliance) (MPACAGAF)

Keywords

• Brand safety certification
• Digital advertising training
• Professional certification programs
• Advertising industry education
• Brand suitability standards

Headquarters

HQ city

Ashburn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Programs: BSI operates on a membership model where organizations join to access certification programs, community resources, and industry collaboration.
2. Professional Certification: Revenue generated through certification programs including Brand Safety Officer, Brand Safety Business Partner, Brand Safe Workforce, and Brand Safety Bootcamp credentials.
3. Educational Content and Courses: Online learning platform offering brand safety courses and white papers for professional development.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Brand Safety Institute is a professional education and certification organization for the digital advertising industry, offering structured certification programs (Brand Safety Officer, Brand Safety Business Partner, Brand Safe Workforce, and Brand Safety Bootcamp) that validate competency in brand safety and suitability practices. It also operates a community of practice connecting advertisers, agencies, platforms, and publishers, and provides the Publisher Quality Utility, a free tool that enables publishers to assess their inventory quality against third-party verification vendor blocklists and quality scores.

Product overview

Brand Safety Institute offers a portfolio of professional certification programs (Brand Safety Officer, Brand Safety Business Partner, Brand Safe Workforce, and Brand Safety Bootcamp) alongside free tools and educational resources. The flagship tool is the Publisher Quality Utility, a free service for publishers to check their blocklist status. The organization provides best practice guides (Marketer's Guide to Platforms, Marketer's Guide to the Open Web), Knowledge Centers covering topics like AI and DEI, the Defend & Deliver Podcast, and publishes original research through white papers and consumer surveys.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Safety Officer Certification Professional certification program ensuring competency in understanding and executing brand safety and suitability policies and practices for individual professionals working in digital advertising.
• Brand Safety Business Partner Certification Corporate certification that validates an organization's competency in brand safety and suitable advertising practices.
• Brand Safe Workforce Certification Certification program designed to ensure brand safety competency across an organization's entire workforce.
• Brand Safety Bootcamp Intensive training program providing foundational and advanced instruction in brand safety practices.
• Publisher Quality Utility Free industry tool that enables publishers to see how buyers of digital advertising inventory view the quality of their site(s), checking domain blocklist status on MFA blocklists and providing Data Integrity Index and Jounce Media scoring metrics.
• BSI Membership Membership program that gives organizations access to certification programs, community resources, knowledge centers, and industry collaboration opportunities.
• Marketer's Guide to Platforms Best practice guide providing insights on navigating brand safety and suitability complexities on digital platforms, including platform safety policies, monitoring compliance, and incident-response best practices.
• Marketer's Guide to the Open Web Comprehensive guide covering foundational terminology and advanced strategies around transparency, supply path optimization, inclusion-first buying, and incident response for navigating brand safety and suitability on the open web.

Quantifiable outcome

• 88% of consumers say it is important that advertisers ensure their ads are not placed near brand unsafe content
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 October 2022BSI and TAG co-conducted the 2022 TAG/BSI US Consumer Brand Safety Survey of 1,110 US adults, examining consumer attitudes toward brand safe content, news advertising, and brand safety topics. This partnership has produced multiple consumer surveys and research publications on brand safety topics.
• TikTokcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTikTok and BSI partnered on the Creator Suitability Report, original research on creator partnerships and brand suitability. As creator partnerships become core strategy for advertisers, suitability and alignment have become essential to long-term success.
• CompliantcoreTechnology or IntegrationCompliant's Data Integrity Index score is featured in BSI's Publisher Quality Utility, providing publishers visibility into their quality ratings as assessed by this verification vendor.
• TrustRaisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrustRaise, founded by Dave Byrne (BSI Board member), provides thought leadership content for BSI on brand safety topics including agentic traffic, brand misappropriation, AI-powered scams, and new realities of brand safety in 2026.
• GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBSI's consumer survey references GARM Brand Safety Suitability Framework categories for brand unsafe content types (the 'noxious nine'). BSI works with industry alignment on brand safety standards.
• MantisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMantis partnered with BSI to strengthen industry standards and expand US market presence, as indicated in BSI's related blog posts.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG): Industry anti-fraud and brand safety standards body that is both BSI's research partner and most direct functional peer. TAG's 600+ member community and certification programs overlap substantially with BSI's mission, making it the closest comparable organization.
• DoubleVerify: Leading brand safety and ad verification vendor that delivers the MFA blocklist and quality data BSI surfaces through its Publisher Quality Utility. Operates in the same brand safety/suitability category with measurement and verification products targeting the same advertiser and publisher buyers.
• Integral Ad Science (IAS): Major brand safety and ad verification provider whose blocklists and quality scores underpin much of the publisher inventory rating data BSI aggregates. Direct competitor in the brand safety measurement and verification market.
• GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media): Cross-industry body that defined the Brand Safety Floor and Suitability Framework (the 'noxious nine') that BSI's frameworks reference. Was BSI's closest peer in setting cross-platform brand safety standards before industry consolidation in 2024.

Broad incumbents

• Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB): Larger, broader advertising industry trade body that sets technical standards and policy for digital advertising. Adjacent to BSI's standards-setting mission but operates at much wider scope (programmatic, privacy, measurement) rather than specializing in brand safety.
• Oracle Advertising (Moat / Grapeshot): Viewability, brand safety, and contextual verification suite owned by Oracle. Operates as a broader incumbent in measurement and verification with overlapping brand safety capabilities, but bundled into Oracle's larger martech portfolio.

Emerging players

• CHEQ: Go-to-market security and brand safety platform protecting ad spend from fraud and unsuitable placements. Competes with BSI-adjacent verification vendors in the same brand safety/verification category, focused on bot/fraud and suitability enforcement.
• Adalytics: Independent ad verification and brand safety research firm publishing investigative reports on MFA, made-for-advertising, and verification gaps. Comparable to BSI in mission (advancing brand safety transparency) but delivered through research rather than certification.
• Zefr: Brand suitability platform focused on social video environments (YouTube, TikTok, Meta). Direct peer in the creator/brand suitability category where BSI's TikTok partnership signals expansion.

Others

• ANA (Association of National Advertisers): Advertiser trade association representing major brand buyers; many of BSI's enterprise members (AIG, Bank of America, Kroger, Merck) are ANA members. Not a direct competitor but the institutional buyer side of the same audience BSI certifies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/safe_brands
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DefendandDeliverPodcast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brand-safety-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brand Safety Institute