Brand safety is a set of measures that prevent an ad from appearing in an unsuitable environment – alongside disinformation content, violence, hate speech, articles about tragedies, or on websites created purely to generate impressions. The risk arises mainly in automated buying, where placements are selected algorithmically across thousands of pages and apps. The tools include excluding content categories, block lists of placements, restricting to verified site lists, excluding sensitive topics, and regularly checking the report of actual placements, which most advertisers never open. That report is often the surprise. It is worth revisiting the settings regularly, since new placements keep appearing. For campaigns running over sensitive periods, agree in advance on the circumstances under which the ad will be paused, so you do not have to decide under pressure.
See also: Comment moderation, Corporate crisis communication, Dark posts.
