An investigation by The Times has found that major global advertisers are unwittingly funding extremists by having their ads programmatically placed on what should be blacklisted websites.
Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose and Marie Curie were all found to appear on hate-filled sites and alongside YouTube videos created by supporters of terrorist groups such as Islamic State.
The Times suggests the misplaced advertising is generating “tens of thousands of pounds a month for extremists” and blamed ad agencies for “pushing brands into online advertising to boost their own profits.”
“Companies are concerned that they are paying huge mark-ups for digital promotion and receiving ‘crappy advertising’ in return,” The Times states.
“Leaked documents from one ‘top-six’ agency show that about 40 per cent of its advert-buying income in 2015 came from hidden kickbacks as well as from ‘other income’. One source said this mainly derived from mark-ups applied to digital commercials.”
Although blacklists of inappropriate websites and content are used to ensure brand safety, The Times report said they were “not fit for purpose”.
The news comes a little over week after Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer, Marc Pritchard, called on the media industry to “clean” up digital advertising.
Delivering an influential speech during the IAB’s annual leadership meeting in the US, Pritchard said: “We have a media supply chain that is murky at best and fraudulent at worst. We need to clean it up, and invest the time and money we save into better advertising to drive growth.”
Pritchard said P&G is currently poring over every agency contract in an attempt to achieve full transparency by the end of 2017 – including terms requiring funds to be used for media payment only, all rebates to be disclosed and returned, and all transactions subject to audit.
The issues raised by The Times and P&G have been under scrutiny for years, however it is only now that major clients and news outlets are unpicking the inherent problems with a market that is seeing ever increasing amounts of adspend poured into it.
The industry view
“This issue of brand safety online is one of the very reasons the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) was set up and we have a certification system to tackle this.
“It enables companies involved in serving online ads to be audited and show how their processes meet the industry agreed good practice principles specifically designed to reduce the risk of ads appearing against inappropriate content.
“Currently 34 companies have received this seal for Brand Safety and we advise advertisers to check whether potential ad trading partners have this certification.”
Richard Foan, chairman of JICWEBS, the independent body responsible for developing standards for online ad trading
