Just over a quarter of ad buyers and planners are confident they understand the safety measures provided by ad vendors, according to research from Vibrant Media.
The research also found more than 33% of ad buyers don’t feel informed and 15% either only feel partially informed.
Such alarmingly low levels of knowledge persist in the wake of the 2017 brand safety scandal, despite 88% of ad planners and buyers stating their number one priority is ensuring brand-safe environments for their marketing clients.
However, ad buyers may becoming more aware of the issues around brand safety, with half saying they will be actively asking for brand safety information from vendors following the scandal.
Doug Stevenson, co-founder of Vibrant Media, said: “A simple approach for ad vendors would be to ensure they have achieved the brand safety and anti-fraud seals from the likes of the Digital Trading Standards Group, the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards and the Trustworthy Accountability Group. If they don’t have those minimum standards, ad buyers should be extremely cautious.
“Ad vendors should also be proactive by giving transparent information to buyers of exactly where ads will run before campaigns commence. This should be reinforced by independently verified third-party reports of the brand safe and fraud-free placement of ads throughout the campaign.”
This follows recent news that household brand names had been inadvertently funding Islamic extremism, pornography and white supremacism by advertising on their videos and websites.