Is Brand Safety Enough?

Because the vast majority of these traditional brand safety solutions were built at the dawn of programmatic advertising, many have not kept up to speed with the nuances in how harmful online content is framed, worded, and produced. Dated algorithms rely on keywords, which alone do not protect a brand entirely. And, with restrictions of the walled gardens making it even more difficult to manage brand safety, businesses are searching for new solutions.

Research deployed by 4D, a division of Silverbullet, and Factmata uncover the use case for a blended approach to brand safety and suitability. As we step into the new marketing age, where third-party cookies fade away, and contextual intelligence will surge, brands can look to adopt a variety of tools to safeguard them against future threats.

Key take-aways include:

• One size does not fit all: Brands looking for safe and suitable solutions will want to align themselves with advanced solutions beyond traditional methods that move far beyond the scope of traditional brand safety methods.
• Unsuitable content, unsuitable spend: Unsuitable content flagged by Factmata, but missed by existing brand safety vendors, equates to 0.71% of total spend. With global programmatic spend in 2020 reaching $126.5bn, advertisers might have spent up to $898m on content considered unsuitable or unsafe for brands.
• Nuance is key: Modern marketers who want to thrive in the new marketing age need to be aware of nuance and true context to identify the right moment and the right environment in order to align with the right message.