An ad exchange network is combining an artificial intelligence (AI) system with blockchain technology to tackle eye-watering levels of fraud in the industry and stop consumers from being bombarded with irrelevant ads at inappropriate times.

NOIZ Chain says the public, and the brands trying to reach them through advertising, have seen their patience wear thin following a slew of scandals involving digital media. While consumers have been reeling from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, that resulted in millions of Facebook users having their data sold and used without consent, advertisers have been falling victim to bots which generate fake clicks, meaning their content never reaches the intended audience. It is estimated that this form of ad fraud will see businesses lose $19 billion in 2018 – representing 9 percent of the total spending on digital advertising for the year.

NOIZ is going to offer cognitive banners that aim to increase user engagement and provide advertisers with meaningful data on how their campaigns have been performing. The technology, named “Nikola”, enables consumers to receive NOIZ tokens when they interact with an ad. These tokens can then be saved up and used to obtain discounts on products and services. NOIZ tokens also grant the opportunity for token holders—companies or individuals—to easily give NOIZ tokens away to support charitable foundations and facilitate social impact through real user engagement. Chat with an ad, earn rewards, exchange for a discount, and in doing so, contribute to making the world a better place. It’s a beautiful concept.

Andy Ann, NOIZ’s founder, told Cointelegraph: “It is high time that the ad exchange network evolves in this digital era. With the growing concern for protection of privacy, the billions of dollars wasted due to ad fraud, and publishers’ concerns over data leaks and cartelling in selling out ad inventory, the NOIZ ad exchange offers a one-stop solution to resolve all these issues.”

“Open and decentralized”

NOIZ also wants to tackle the scourge of fake news and unethical advertising which has gripped the Internet in recent years, and ensure that users are only served quality content. The platform’s community will be able to vote against advertisers with questionable business practices, as well as publishers who post fabricated stories or plagiarized content. It is hoped that this approach will make both parties accountable for their actions – enabling them to regain the trust of consumers who are fed up with having their personal details misused.

“We believe this will be the only way to build a robust advertising model for true engagement now and in the long-term,” Mr. Ann added.

Although advertisers will be held to a higher standard through the NOIZ platform, the company says businesses have a lot to gain as well. Consumers will be rewarded for sharing their data with the brands and publishers they trust. This valuable (and accurate) information will help businesses target their campaigns with a precision not achievable on traditional display advertisements. Currently these advertisements are often placed by algorithms that effectively guess what adverts a consumer might be interested in based on their browsing history, age, gender and location. NOIZ says its cognitive ad network uses AI technology that has generated 30 times more engagement, and in turn, can create a boost in revenue for publishers.

The future of NOIZ

The NOIZ team is preparing to unveil the platform prototypes that have been developed over the past two years.

Interested contributors are now being invited to join a whitelist ahead of the NOIZ token sale in the third quarter of 2018. Its cognitive ad technology is scheduled to launch by the end of the year, and ad trading between publishers and businesses will be enabled at the beginning of 2019. Other features – including a consumer wallet, consensus voting and the ability to support charities by donating NOIZ tokens will follow.