Publishers Reeling From Carbon Emissions ‘Shakedown’

Publishers have long had their revenue undercut by blocklists preventing ads from showing up on articles about politics, hard news or other content that makes brands squeamish. Now, some publishers are feeling a new threat: carbon filtering tools and blocklists from firms like Scope3 and Good-Loop that let ad buyers filter the lowest carbon-emitting publishers. Publishers are upset that companies don’t notify them when they’re on a blocklist. ADWEEK found four titles from one publisher on at least one carbon blocklist from a third-party vendor that it hasn’t been notified about. One data provider, speaking on condition of anonymity, has 230 publishers on a carbon blocklist. Three other publishers have contacted the provider to ask whether they are on “the naughty list.” And the consultancy Right Thing Media has heard from at least four publishers concerned about revenue impact, said founder Gerson Barnett. Publishers are particularly frustrated because they can’t assess how much money they’re losing because they don’t always know if they’re on these carbon blocklists, said eight sources with knowledge of publishers’ concerns. Consulting firm Prohaska estimates that publishers could see between 5%-50% of buying opportunities blocked, as the various players scale their practices. Publishers are also upset as more third-party vendors charge to reduce carbon emissions, viewing it as a “shakedown,” said an exec from the first publisher, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It’s utter crap, the way they have positioned themselves in the mix; it’s an unneeded headache,” that person said. Until there is standardization for publishers to adhere to, it’s like the “Wild West,” said Barnett. The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), along with other firms, plans to release standards in June. Getting off the carbon blocklist Publishers can get off these blocklists by reducing their carbon emissions through programmatic pruning; trimming ads.txt files; reducing resellers; and changing header bidding wrappers. Scope3’s Climate Shield, launched in May 2023, blocks roughly the top 10% of the highest carbon emitters, which fluctuate based on the market and region. It measures roughly seven categories from publishers, including ads.txt files and corporate sustainability reports. Audi, Diageo and Others Block High-Carbon Publishers With Scope3’s Climate Shield Plug-In for DSPs Programmatic ads (including display and streaming) contribute 7.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually (3.8 million from display), per Scope3 numbers in July. That’s equivalent to the yearly electricity usage of about 1.4 million U.S. houses, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Scope3 plans to release a feature to automatically alert publishers if they are on a list in the next few months, and it encourages ad buyers to refresh carbon blocklists daily or in real time. Scope3 CEO Brian O’Kelley also disputes that it blocks publishers’ full sites, adding that it’s free for publishers to see how Scope3 ranks its carbon emissions. "We’re not blocking the site; we’re blocking specific paths to the site that are very high carbon,” he said. Good-Loop's carbon filter tool, launched 2023, a year after its Green Ad Tag, lets "users select the emissions savings they want to achieve and then export the sites to their block and allow lists accordingly." The company said it offers solutions that promote the publishers with the lowest 25% of carbon emissions, rather than block them. But buyers can create their own blocklists from its information. That data can be updated at least monthly. Good-Loop intends to work more with publishers to reduce their footprint, but has focused more on the demand side so far, said CMO Marisa Thomas. Ad agencies want carbon blocklists As frustrating as carbon blocklists are for publishers, ad buyers want them. “We need publishers to thrive. It’s not meant to be a tool to punish; it’s meant to educate and make the ecosystem better,” said Laura Wade, global head of sustainability strategy, at the media agency EssenceMediacom. Inclusion lists are seen as more effective for driving change since they incentivize greener media owners. EssenceMediacom has a sustainability marketplace where it has removed publishers with carbon emissions higher than the agency-set threshold, reinstating them once those emissions are reduced. EssenceMediacom is not the only ad buyer that will pull spend based on this criteria. The first publisher exec told ADWEEK how a U.S. agency threatened to stop spending with the publisher unless it reduced its CO2 levels, putting millions of dollars worth of deals at risk. Not as bad as keyword blocking As worried as publishers are about carbon filtering tools, investment is still relatively low. Right Thing Media’s Barnett estimates that fewer than 10% of programmatic campaigns optimize to lower carbon. The revenue hit is not at the chronic levels of brand safety keyword blocking in recent years, where U.S. news publishers lost $4.1 billion in 2020, according to estimates from cybersecurity firm Cheq. But that’s little comfort to publishers, who are getting drained of revenue from multiple places. “Publishers are once again caught between a rock and a hard place,” said the first publisher exec. “There’s the pressure of cookie deprecation, consent changes and sustainability on top.”

Programmatic

Publishers Reeling From Carbon Emissions ‘Shakedown’

Companies are in the dark about getting dinged

Lucinda Southern

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