Check My Ads Institute is an independent watchdog reshaping the digital adtech industry from within its ranks — and building a new sustainable standard in digital advertising.

We're holding the surveillance adtech industry accountable for abuses against advertisers and consumers, and spearheading the development of a transparent, efficient and privacy-focused digital advertising marketplace.

The effort to help ground public and policy-maker understanding of the internet's attention marketplaces can and must be complemented by more aggressive action from activists and whistleblowers.

Tim Hwang, author of Subprime Attention Crisis

Check My Ads

Team

Nandini Jammi

Claire Atkin

Check My Ads

Board of directors

David Carroll

Judy Shapiro

Zach Edwards

Joan Donovan

The global disinformation epidemic is growing every day, fuelled by ad dollars funneled from the opaque adtech industry.

For well over a decade, the $400B surveillance advertising industry has operated with no oversight, no regulation and no consequences. They’ve produced layers of technology and algorithms that have purported to create an unprecented effective marketing machine.

Today, we know these algorithms have destabilized our information ecosystem, resulting in a global disinformation epidemic and a decimated local news industry. And yet, the impact of the surveillance advertising ecosystem on our everyday lives is not fully understood by the public, by policymakers or even by the marketing industry they serve.

However, marketers are unable to fight back. Too often, the adtech industry is working in direct opposition to advertisers — keeping information from them, making it difficult to check their ads, and keeping them out of the room.

While there are many trade groups and organizations that represent the industry, there are none that represent consumers. It’s clear to us that the answer has to come from within.