In his book “The Death of Truth” Steven Brill exposes the intricate world of programmatic advertising and its unintended consequences on the spread of misinformation and disinformation. The themes explored in Brill’s work have significant implications for the digital advertising industry and how we ensure truth and accuracy in the data driving our campaigns.
The Murky World of Ad Intermediaries
The programmatic advertising ecosystem is a convoluted chain of commerce, with spending estimated to reach over $300 billion in 2023. Advertisers often don’t know what content their ads are being placed alongside. The core idea is that the surrounding content is irrelevant – what matters is reaching the target audience at the lowest cost through sophisticated data targeting.
This marks a shift from the traditional advertising model where content quality and brand safety were paramount. With programmatic, the quality of the content became inconsequential as long as it could deliver the desired audience.
Funding the Disinformation Machine
Ironically, some of the biggest brands have become unwitting financiers of disinformation operations like the Russian state-owned Sputnik News website. In 2019, major advertisers like Geico, Best Buy, and Progressive inadvertently funded Sputnik through programmatic ad buys.
A 2021 analysis estimated programmatic advertisers spent $2.6 billion on websites publishing misinformation in 2020, with $1.62 billion in the U.S. alone. Redirecting this massive ad spend to legitimate news sources could provide a much-needed boost to quality journalism.
The Collateral Damage of Brand Safety
In attempting to protect their brands, advertisers have implemented blunt “brand safety” tools like keyword blocking lists. However, these measures have undermined the business of legitimate publishers, depriving them of ad revenue.
Ensuring Truth in Programmatic Advertising
The themes of “The Death of Truth” reveal an urgent need to ensure truth and accuracy in the data driving programmatic ad campaigns. Misinformation can significantly impact targeting, measurement, and overall campaign effectiveness.
Verifying data accuracy, continuous campaign monitoring, transparency in ad placements, and industry collaboration are crucial strategies to mitigate misinformation’s effects on programmatic advertising.
Recommendations for Brands to address this issue, brands should:
- Conduct regular audits of programmatic ad buys to identify placements on misinformation sites.
- Avoid over-relying on brand safety tech by supplementing with human oversight and fact-checking.
- Build whitelists of trusted, credible publishers and prioritize direct partnerships.
- Demand greater transparency and accountability from ad tech, including cash refunds for misinformation placements.
- Support media literacy initiatives to empower consumers to identify misinformation.
The rise of programmatic advertising has inadvertently created a lucrative financial incentive for the spread of misinformation. As industry leaders, we must acknowledge these unintended consequences and work collectively towards solutions that uphold digital ecosystem integrity while supporting quality journalism.
Ensuring truth in the data driving our campaigns is crucial for maintaining advertising effectiveness and consumer trust. By implementing robust strategies and holding partners accountable, brands can mitigate misinformation’s impact while fostering a more transparent and trustworthy digital advertising landscape.
