Independent digital performance agency Fifty.io has integrated Scope3 into its platform to allow advertisers to measure each campaign’s carbon emissions across every domain with data displayed in real-time for clients such as FormulaE, Chipotle, RFU, Oggs, and Planted.

This unique feature allows Fifty.io to optimize digital media campaigns for carbon impact, offering clients the opportunity to compensate for emissions at the campaign level.

Digital advertising has a huge emissions problem, created by unnecessarily complex and inefficient ad supply chains. Data suggests 13,860 metric tons of carbon is produced each year from digital advertising. 

Approximately one gram of carbon is produced every time an advertising impression is generated, according to research by Scope3.

Fifty.io has optimized its own supply chain. Now it is able offer clients the ability to track the carbon impacts of their media-buying decisions over different channels and publishers.

Clients’ campaigns can be optimized to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of media delivery. This is all linked with Fifty’s in-platform audience-targeting solutions. 

The company also now offers the opportunity to responsibly compensate for gCO2PM at campaign-end.

Jamie Scott, CTO at Fifty.io, said the technology will monitor and quantify the carbon footprint linked to two distinct procedures related to all programmatic campaigns: Ad Selection and Media Distribution.

Fifty.io also will show clients how their domain ranks on sustainability, so they can select low-impact campaigns, and provide the opportunity at campaign-end to compensate based on the carbon consumption report.

When asked how this change fits into the culture of the company, Scott called Fifty.io a “climate positive business that takes sustainability seriously.”

The company aims to incorporate sustainability at every level, from using recycled and recyclable branding products to using only digital business cards and working with partners with a sustainable ethos.

As part of this commitment to powering sustainable advertising, Fifty.io last year went beyond the goal of carbon neutral or net zero to remove more carbon than the company emitted.

As of 2023, it balanced 332.58T of carbon and 110% of its emissions for 2021, while protecting biodiversity and supporting local communities. It also cut its platform processes by 50% and more recently, signed the Plant Based Treaty.

Data continues to show a correlation between performance media and responsible media.

Results revealed that factoring emissions into a campaign improved performance in the following areas, such as Performance vs gCO2PN, Attention vs gCO2PN and Privacy vs gCO2PN. The lowest emitting quartile — 25th percentile — over-indexes by more than 60% for performance metrics (CTR and VCR), according to Scope3.

Within the Fifty.io platform, Scott said technology can identify audiences’ top domains, called Tribes. These domains are rated according to how “green” they are.

For visualization purposes, the platform shows a baseline metric based on the carbon impact to serve 1000 impressions on:

• Device: Smartphone connected to a mobile network
• Creative: Display banner ad, 150kB size
• Location: United Kingdom

When it comes to actually running a campaign, Fifty.io can adjust these factors to align with the advertisements. 

Independent digital performance agency Fifty.io has integrated Scope3 into its platform to allow advertisers to measure campaigns’ carbon emissions across every domain with data displayed in real-time.