Battle Against Ad Fraud: Why brand safety matters in Programmatic Ads era - Part 1

It is estimated that 73% of global digital ad spending will be programmatically purchased in 2024, making fraud prevention a top priority for advertisers. Fraudulent websites that deceive ad platforms into believing they are legitimate pose significant risks, making it crucial for advertisers to ensure their ads don’t inadvertently support or appear alongside misleading, inappropriate, or false content. Despite the implementation of sophisticated brand safety solutions, the dynamic and often opaque nature of the online ecosystem continues to present unique challenges.

Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University recently conducted a study to assess the frequency with which ads are placed on websites that disseminate misleading stories, as well as advertisers’ awareness of this issue. Their findings revealed that between 2019 and 2021, two-thirds of advertisers purchased ads on sites identified by media watchdogs NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index as consistently publishing false or misleading content.

Adgully seeks to unravel this serious issue in this two-part series, exploring how advertisers navigate the complex terrain of brand safety, the limitations of current solutions, and the innovative strategies being employed to safeguard brand integrity in a world where misinformation is just a click away.

The efficacy of brand safety tools

Advertisers face multiple challenges in ensuring their ads do not appear on sites that publish misleading or false content, despite using brand safety solutions. And it is important for advertisers to manage programmatic advertising to ensure their ads do not appear on websites that distribute misleading or false information.

Experts say that the nature of the online world is fundamentally dynamic, rendering brand safety tools ineffective at times.

Despite utilizing brand safety solutions, advertisers face several specific challenges in ensuring their ads do not appear on sites that publish misleading or false content, points out Bhavesh Talreja, Founder and CEO, Globale Media.

“The dynamic nature of online content means that a site considered safe yesterday might start publishing misleading content today, making it difficult for brand safety tools to keep up. Imperfect detection algorithms, which rely heavily on machine learning, can fail to detect nuanced or sophisticated misleading content, leading to false negatives. Additionally, automated tools may misinterpret the context in which certain keywords or phrases are used, causing ads to be placed on sites with misleading or false content. Sites that publish such content continuously evolve their tactics to bypass detection mechanisms, making it a constant challenge for brand safety solutions to stay ahead. Blocklists, another common tool, often have a limited scope and may not cover all problematic websites, especially as new sites can emerge quickly. Finally, the automated nature of programmatic advertising means that ads are bought and placed in real-time across a vast network of sites, making manual monitoring and control of ad placements difficult,” he says.

According to Talreja, to better manage programmatic advertising and ensure ads do not appear on websites that distribute misleading or false information, advertisers can adopt several strategies including enhanced vendor collaboration involving working closely with ad-tech vendors to demand robust and regularly updated brand safety solutions and ensuring they have stringent policies and technologies to detect and block misleading content.

Talreja points out that layered brand safety measures, including pre-bid filtering, post-bid monitoring, and third-party verification services, provide a multi-layered approach to effectively identify and block inappropriate sites.

“Maintaining and regularly updating custom blocklists of known misleading sites and developing allow lists of trusted sites can also help. Shifting towards more sophisticated contextual targeting that understands content nuances beyond simple keyword matching reduces the risk of ads appearing alongside misleading content. Human oversight and manual reviews are necessary to complement automation, ensuring regular audits of ad placements. Transparent reporting and analytics provide insights into ad placements, helping identify patterns and potential risks, which allows for strategic adjustments. Additionally, continuous education and awareness about the latest trends and tactics used by misleading sites keep the marketing and advertising teams vigilant and proactive,” Talreja explains.

Advertisers face several challenges in ensuring their ads do not appear on sites that publish misleading or false content, even when using brand safety solutions, points out Adam Smart, Director of Product (Gaming) at AppsFlyer.

One major issue, according to Smart, is the lack of control over where ads are shown. He reckons that some advertising networks are not completely transparent about the origins of their traffic, making it difficult for advertisers to ensure their ads are placed safely.

“Additionally, while brand safety tools exist, they often prioritize driving traffic and installs without guaranteeing brand safety. These tools can be expensive and are not always 100% effective. Advertisers must also avoid negative associations for their brand, such as being linked to gambling sites or other inappropriate content. Think of Disney or any other brand that advertises content for children – they don’t want to be associated with websites for adult content,” says Adam Smart.

According to him, the digital advertising ecosystem is complex, with numerous networks and companies involved, making it challenging to track ad spend and ensure appropriate placements. Moreover, with the rise of kids' apps and other platforms, there is a growing need for advertisers to self-police and be aware of the categories and sources where their ads appear.

“Of the many challenges which advertisers face, one I particularly would mention is due to the vastness of the web; it’s difficult to comprehensively monitor the placements or appearance of ads, that too manually,” says Sajid Shaikh, Group Account Manager - Media, SoCheers.

Hence, Shaikh adds, to thoroughly manage and ensure that ads do not appear on websites that distribute misleading or false information, advertisers can opt to:

• Use Blacklists and Whitelists: Platforms allow for excluding entire categories, topics from ad spending, which can be particularly helpful. Another option is whitelisting, which is important if your product is sensitive. This will give a list of approved and rather than denied sites.
• Work with trusted publishers: To protect your brand and know exactly where your ads appear, make sure that the DSP (Demand Side Platform) only works with trusted and authorised publishers.

Ranjit Thind, Director of Media and Tech, Asymmetrique, agrees that advertisers face several challenges in ensuring their ads do not appear on sites with misleading or false content, despite using brand safety solutions.

“The dynamic nature of web content is one such issue, as it changes frequently and becomes difficult to track and update in real time. Additionally, the current brand safety algorithms are imperfect and may lead to false negatives or false positives. The automated nature of programmatic advertising involves multiple intermediaries and real-time bidding, which can result in less control over where ads are placed. Moreover, some websites appear legitimate but later switch to misleading content, evading initial safety checks,” points out Ranjit Thind.

So what are the solutions? To better manage programmatic advertising, Thind explains, advertisers can implement several strategies.

“Regularly updating blocklists and conducting audits help identify and remove ads from problematic sites. Developing advanced AI and machine learning models can improve the detection of misleading content. Stringent whitelisting processes and maintaining updated blacklists provide more control over where ads are placed. Finally, enhancing transparency in the ad supply chain ensures advertisers know where their ads are served, reducing the risk of ads appearing on misleading or false content,” he adds.

Abhishek Tiwari, Global Business Head, NetSetGo Media, points out that there are several issues that advertisers encounter when trying to avoid their ads appearing on sites that spread fake news and other misinformation even when using brand safety solutions.

“A major challenge is the vast number of websites and the fact that the content on the Internet is constantly updating. Moreover, there are some other misleading sites that may look like real news sites and therefore can deceive brand safety tools into accepting such sites. An advice for advertisers to improve their management of programmatic advertising is to employ multiple levels of brand safety solutions, such as, whitelisting approach, utilizing sophisticated AI-based content filtering and monitoring of ads,” explains Tiwari.

(Tomorrow, Part 2 of the report will analyse how advertisers can better manage programmatic advertising to ensure their ads do not appear on problematic websites. Additionally, we will explore the steps ad tech vendors can take to proactively prevent ads from being served on disreputable sites. And much more...)