Many advertisers are avoiding coronavirus-related stories. But 62% of ads flagged by keyword-based ad blocking are actually brand safe, according to adtech vendor GumGum. This matters because publishers earn less revenue and advertisers miss good media buys.
In case you’re wondering, Department of the Obvious Senior Intern Jamie is safely sheltering in the attic. But he still keeps an eye on industry news and just shared this survey from marketing agency Element-R Partners, which found that 74% of marketers had changed or reduced activities during the pandemic. A majority (61%) were somewhat or highly annoyed by business-as-usual messages.
As it happens, brand risk fell in the second half of last year, according to Integral Ad Science. Viewability was up but fraud results were mixed: ad fraud rates rose for campaigns that were not optimized to prevent fraud and were roughly stable for campaigns that were.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.