MUMBAI: What’s invisible, expensive, and possibly not even human? Thirty percent of your ad impressions. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), head of media and digital marketing Tejas Apte didn’t mince words at Goa Fest 2025 as he peeled back the pixel-perfect surface of digital advertising to reveal a mess of murky metrics and media mayhem.
Speaking in a session titled ‘Building a Safer, Smarter, Cleaner Media Ecosystem’, Apte laid bare the underbelly of modern marketing where ad fraud, bot views, and misuse of data are quietly eating away at ROI and trust. With up to 30 per cent of digital impressions possibly fake, brands aren’t just losing money; they’re losing credibility.
“Legacy media had a balance subscription and ad-funded models. But digital is almost entirely ad-funded,” he noted. “And that makes transparency and safety non-negotiable.”
As part of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), HUL has taken a lead in drafting a four-point media charter that aims to disinfect digital with real-world rigour:Safe placements for both brands and users, Viewability standards to filter out the fake, Fraud prevention that spans all formats and platforms, Responsible first-party data usage grounded in clear consent.
Apte underscored that these principles weren’t just boardroom theory, they were co-created with platforms like Google and Meta, ensuring that everyone speaks the same metric language. The focus is shifting from shallow click metrics to meaningful business outcomes.
The ad world’s changing algorithm isn’t just affecting platforms, it’s rewriting agency job descriptions. With automation and AI replacing mechanical tasks, Apte sees agencies morphing from campaign vendors to strategic business partners. “In-housing is real, but rarely complete. Agencies remain critical, if they evolve from service delivery to impact delivery.”
While some brands are building internal muscle, the ISA charter pushes for an ecosystem-wide adoption from nimble startups to legacy giants. The ultimate goal? A future where every impression counts, every ad is seen by a human, and every click has consequence.
Practising what they preach, HUL has already implemented these guidelines internally. The result? Sharper first-party data strategies, better media ROI, and a wave of new, trustworthy media partners.
So, next time your ad gets a million impressions, pause to ask were any of them real? Or are we all just chasing ghosts in the machine?
As Apte put it with a smile, “Click fraud is not just a tech issue. It’s a trust issue.”
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