In Connected TV, Brand Safety Is Still a Goal, Not the Norm

Half a dozen industry sources say there are insufficient controls to prevent advertisers from funding misinformation

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On a spreadsheet with reams of data on a connected TV campaign, a far-right QAnon-linked broadcaster popped up as a media destination for advertisements, when a media buyer—who requested anonymity with Adweek for this interview—was doing routine auditing.

The buyer said the client, a global advertiser, would not want to appear on the network, which has aired programming questioning pandemic science and whether Joe Biden really won the 2020 presidential election.  

Not only had the media buyer’s agency unknowingly purchased airtime with a publisher their client would prefer not to fund, but they almost didn’t know it happened: The information was housed in a nonstandard data category.

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