With the advent of programmatic advertising, publishers were finally able to monetize their long-tail inventory. Whereas publishers were previously only able to monetize their premium inventory through direct sales, they could now monetize their entire site through a fast real-time-bidding (RTB) environment. However, this new RTB did not come without its own set of challenges.
One of the major challenges came in the form of brand safety. Brand safety was historically of little to no concern as with direct sales, the brand knew exactly what pages it would be serving on. Because programmatic advertising allows almost anyone to buy or sell ad space, brands and publishers are susceptible to bad actors such as malicious ads or sensitive content.
According to eMarketer, brand safety is the second largest concern for programmatic buying tech owners.
Types of Brand Safety Offenses
Brand Runs Ads on Sensitive/Controversial Publisher Content. This is what we normally think of for brand safety. Brands are concerned that their brand reputation will be damaged if their ads run alongside sensitive content, effectively generating “negative reach”.
Examples:
- A Hertz ad appearing in an article titled “Are Liberal Pervs Sexually Obsessed with Refugees?”
- A Jeep ad appearing a controversial supreme court case about sexual misconduct
- An E-Trade ad appearing in an article about murder
Brand Runs Sensitive/Controversial Ads on Publisher Content. In this scenario, it is actually the publisher’s site integrity that is at risk. If reader’s see exceedingly annoying or grotesque ads, they are more likely to stop visiting the site and eventually site viewership will dwindle.
Examples:
- Viagra runs an ad promoting male endurance on ESPN
- An unknown brand runs an in-banner video in a 300×250 slot on Washington Post, slowing down the browser considerably for the user
Brand Runs Ads Alongside Sensitive/Controversial Ads of Another Brand. This scenario is not the first thing that comes to mind when the topic of brand safety is brought up, but it is still important nonetheless. This is essentially an extension of the previous point, with the impact of bad ads affecting other advertisers as well as publishers.
Examples:
- An Ashley Madison ad appearing next to a hot wheels ad
- A toenail fungus ad appearing next to a Ben & Jerry’s ad
- A McDonald’s ad running alongside an ad promoting healthy eating
Improving Brand Safety
Steps already taken and planning to be taken according to an eMarketer survey of advertising buyers.
Although brand safety is a major concern in today’s day and age, brands are still buying while knowing the risks. Programmatic buying and the open exchange is still very attractive due to the vast amount of data/targeting options available as well the efficiency of the RTB environment.
Accoring to eMarketer, only 32% of brands and 34% of agencies agree that brands will reduce digital spend if brand safety, viewability, and fraud issues are not resolved.
How Much is Too Much?
Critics of brand safety have a differing opinion, stating that brand safety is often over exaggerated. They believe that brand safety concerns are driven more by screenshots of ads next to tragic stories than by data.
Brands may become so fearful of running on inappropriate publisher content that they stop running on news sites altogether. This reduces a significant amount of buying scale for brands. Ultimately, brands should be wary of the sites that they are running on, but they should also think of the reach and frequency implications when apply filters to their buys.
Sources
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/ads-from-mainstream-businesses-are-still-showing-up-on-extremist-sites–despite-efforts-to-stop-it/2018/10/03/6932974e-c326-11e8-8f06-009b39c3f6dd_story.html
- https://www.adweek.com/digital/why-other-advertisements-are-the-new-brand-safety-worry/
- https://www.adweek.com/digital/advertisers-are-more-concerned-than-ever-about-brand-safety-according-to-new-study/
- https://adage.com/article/aarp-media-sales/true-costs-ignoring-online-brand-safety/310378/
- https://www.emarketer.com/content/five-charts-explaining-the-state-of-brand-safety
- https://digiday.com/media/advertisers-often-avoid-hard-news-theres-mixed-data-back/
Distrust and caution are the parents of security.
— Benjamin Franklin
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