Keeping Your Ads In Brand-Safe Areas Still Requires a Diligent Agency

It’s sad, but true.  Many digital ad buyers think that technology is the ultimate solution for keeping their clients’ ads out of bad neighborhoods on the web or in other digital media.

Technology can help, but there’s no substitute for an experienced agency that knows where the bad neighborhoods are and where technology falls short.

We found lots of trusted brands running in really dark, disgusting corners of the web.  I doubt their buying agencies knew where the ads were running.  What’s to blame?

Part of the blame belongs with a digital media buying culture that has learned to celebrate the notion of using technology to hand-pick targeted individuals across the web, regardless of content or context.  This has led to a de-emphasis on editorial environment that is harming the industry in more ways than one.  One symptom is seeing ads for trusted brands in places no one would expect.

Another part of the blame belongs with the increased emphasis on media buying automation.  When technology ignores qualitative measures and overemphasizes quantitative ones, it leads to automated systems that make mistakes.  Sometimes big ones.

Perspective leads to precision.  It’s one of the things we pride ourselves on here at Underscore – knowing when to rely on technology and when human intervention is needed.  And the truth of the matter is that brand safety technology still has some gaping holes that need to be plugged.  We look forward to working with the various players in the industry to plug them, but we need to be realistic about what can be executed today with tools in their current state.  Yes, you do still need an agency staffed with real human beings to keep your brand out of trouble online.