Advertisers seek more control after unintended Breitbart spots
Advertisers seek more control after unintended Breitbart
spots
By Jessica Toonkel March 21, 2017
(Reuters) - Some advertisers are working overtime to
scrub their spots from websites including Breitbart News, an unintended
consequence of the automated ad buying systems that are meant to lower costs
and allow for more targeted advertising.
Those trying to keep their ads off certain websites are
finding they must take steps to verify the spots they bid for are where ads
actually appear and that there are no third parties involved that can result in
ads winding up in unintended places.
Breitbart News, once run by U.S. President Donald Trump's
chief strategist Steve Bannon and popular with the alt-right, a loose grouping
characterized by a rejection of mainstream politics that includes neo-Nazis and
anti-Semites, has become a particular concern for some advertisers and the
automated exchanges they work with.
While the exact number of advertisers that have
blacklisted Breitbart is unknown, Sleeping Giants, an anonymous group
campaigning on Twitter against companies advertising on the website, puts the
number higher than 1,500.
However, ads from album creation site Mixbook and online
invitation company Paperless Post could still be seen on Breitbart's website as
recently as last week, according to a review by Reuters, even after they each
blocked the site last fall.
Control over online ad placement has become a hot button
for advertisers, with social networks and news aggregators coming under fire
during and after the U.S. presidential election for spreading so-called fake
news reports. Advertisers have also sought to avoid having their brands appear
beside content that they categorize as hate speech.
"This is about reputational risk," said Andrew
Laffoon, chief executive of Palo, Alto-based Mixbook. "Our brand stands
for families and connections and needs to be trusted."
The issue extends beyond the United States, with Alphabet
Inc's Google, the largest online advertiser globally, coming under fire in
Europe from politicians and brands angered by their ads appearing alongside
videos on its YouTube platform carrying homophobic and anti-Semitic messages.
Google launched a review of the issue on Friday,
apologized on Monday and said in a blog post on Tuesday it had revamped its
policies to give advertisers more control.
A spokesman for Breitbart did not return repeated
requests for comment.
POTENTIAL PITFALL
The struggle by certain companies to keep their ads from
appearing on Breitbart demonstrates a potential pitfall to digital ad buying.
Programmatic ad buying keeps costs low by allowing advertisers to automatically
buy and place digital spots through third-party exchanges, but brands may give
up control over where the ads run.
For example, both Mixbook and New York-based marketing
technology company Magnetic, on behalf of a client, said they had discovered
ads showing up on Breitbart, which they had blacklisted, through web addresses
owned by Disqus, the company that powers Breitbart's comment section.
San Francisco-based Disqus had been selling ads on
Breitbart's site in exchange for Breitbart using its software for its comment
section, as it does for many sites, said Disqus chief executive Daniel Ha. It
stopped doing so entirely after advertisers complained.
When advertisers buy programmatic ads on exchanges, they
or their agencies create campaigns targeting certain audiences. They send that
information to buyers of ad inventory, known as demand-side platforms, which
automatically bid for spots on hundreds of exchanges.
The exchanges then place those ads on websites.
Advertisers and the companies they work with often place
brand safety parameters around their bids and may exclude sites associated with
hate speech.
However, ad exchanges sometimes hide the URLs of the
publishers where the ads appear. Some do not want it known they are selling ads
on exchanges at a cheaper rate, ad tech experts told Reuters.
Some exchanges like AppNexus have removed Breitbart from
their inventory. Ads appearing on the Breitbart website viewed by Reuters were
identified as directed by Google, which has its own exchange called AdX.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment on issues
specifically relating to Breitbart, but said the company does have policies
governing where ads may be placed in order to protect users from "harmful,
misleading or inappropriate content."
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